'Keep the Beat for the Bayou Region' teaches CPR
March
2006
More
than 400 people attended “Keep the Beat for the Bayou
Region,” cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) sessions
held on March 4 and 11.
“Keep
the Beat for the Bayou Region” is a not-for-profit training
initiative formed to teach the residents of the bayou region
parishes of Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption and St. Mary,
basic life-saving techniques. Participants are not certified
to work in medical settings, but are taught life-saving skills
to use in an emergency situation.
Thanks
to the generous support of the community, “Keep the
Beat for the Bayou Region” has enjoyed continued success
since its start in 2003. In an attempt to broaden its reach,
this year’s event brought the educational sessions to
the individual communities of Thibodaux, Houma and Morgan
City for the first time. In the past, “Keep the Beat
for the Bayou Region” has been held on a single day
in Houma.
“We
truly achieved our mission with the 2006 bystander CPR training
effort,” commented Dr. Sandeep Patel, medical director
of the Thibodaux event. “We made the training accessible
to more people in their own home towns.”
Nearly
70 community-minded organizations from the four-parish area
of Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption and St. Mary, co-sponsored
the event, which was also made possible by volunteer instructors
and staff.
“Keep
the Beat” has expanded into Iberia and St. Landry Parishes
and stemmed from an effort to remedy the dismal statistics
that plague south Louisiana: Only one in 20 people know CPR,
and Louisiana’s heart disease rate is 10 percent higher
than the national average.
This
event was made possible with the help of the following sponsors:
American Heart Association, Cardiovascular Institute of the
South, HTV 10, Sunburst Media—Louisiana, Terrebonne
General Medical Center, Thibodaux Regional Medical Center,
Charter Media, Lovecomm, Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government,
Acadian Ambulance, Abbott Laboratories, All Print Unlimited,
All-Right Installations, Atchafalaya OB/Gyn, Bayou Catholic,
Bayou Sign, Candy Fleet, City of Morgan City, Coastal Broadcasting
of Larose (KLRZ), The Courier, Cristiano Ristorante, CV Therapeutics,
Daily Comet, Daily Review, Elwood Stevens, Attorney-at-Law,
Guidant, Hibernia Investment, Houma.com, Houma Reprographics
& Map, KWBJ-TV Allen’s Cable, Major Equipment &
Remediation, The Medicine Shop, Outback Steakhouse, Outside
& In, Pinnacle Computer Services, St. Mary Parish Medical
Society, Swiftships Shipbuilder, LLC, Teche Regional Medical
Center, Taco Bell-Atchafalaya Health Club, Terrebonne Homecare
and Tri-Parish Times.
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