On Monday, June 3, 2013, members of the Westwood Fire Company and neighboring Sadsburyville Fire Company attended a class on High Functioning CPR presented by Leo Scaccia, Director of Operations at Brandywine Hospital's Medic 93.

The purpose of this class was to teach EMTs, Firefighters, and First Responders the science behind a new method to CPR and the statistics around it's benefits.

Cardiovascular disease is the single greatest cause of death in the United States. Each year, more than a quarter of a million people receive attempted resuscitation from cardiac cardiac arrest by Emergency Medical Services. The prognosis for the majority of these arrests unfortunately remains poor.

High Performance CPR puts and emphasis on teamwork between emergency providers and quality CPR. Quality CPR is a means to improve survival from sudden cardiac arrest. Scientific studies show when CPR is performed according to these guidelines, the chance of successful resuscitation substantially increases. Minimal breaks in compressions, adequate compression depth, adequate compression rate, and full chest recoil, are all components of CPR that can increase survival from cardiac arrest. When combined, these components create High Performance CPR (HP CPR). High Performance CPR is arguably the most dramatic change to protocols that many of us have seen in out EMS careers.

Our thanks to Leo Scaccia for his assistance in teaching this program to allow our personnel to remain on the cutting edge of the newest techniques in emergency medical care.