On Saturday, March 27, Jackson Health System partnered with the American Red Cross, American Heart Association and Miami-Dade Public Schools to host CPR Day Miami – a free, countywide training event to teach 30-minute, Hands-Only CPR training sessions. Over 1,000 participants showed up at 10 locations across Miami-Dade County to learn the basic CPR skills needed to save a life.

The Red Cross adopted Ponce De Leon Middle School and had nearly 150 people show up to learn Hands-Only CPR from five Red Cross instructors. Families like Anna and Adam Shaffer brought their daughters Abigail and Angelie to learn lifesaving skills. About two years ago, Adam suffered a cardiac arrest and Anna acknowledges that she did not know what to do. Free classes like Hands-Only CPR teach untrained bystanders how to perform Hands-Only CPR and save lives by putting more cardiac arrest victims within a few steps of lifesaving assistance. Anna now feels more equipped to assist if a similar situation occurs again in her family.

With a half-million cardiac arrests each year, CPR can help save a life if a person's breathing or heart stops. Take a lifesaving class today by visiting redcross.org/take-a-class.