MFD Partners With County, Libraries, Red Cross for Citywide CCR Training

City of Madison Community Education officers will join with Red Cross volunteers to provide free cardio cerebral resuscitation (CCR) training at six City of Madison library branches. The training takes between 15 and 20 minutes. It will be available between 9 and 11 a.m. Saturday, January 17 at the following locations: Alicia Ashman - 733 North High Point Central - 201 W. Mifflin St. Hawthorne - 2707 E. Washington Meadowridge - 5740 Raymond Rd. Pinney - 204 Cottage Grove Rd. Sequoya - 4340 Tokay Blvd. The Department has previously opened its fire stations for the training but began working with the libraries after training library staff in CCR. The six library branches have generously offered the use of their community rooms to the public for the training. The use of CCR for cardiac resuscitation was pioneered in Dane County by the Department's former Medical Director, Dr. Darren Bean. Dr. Bean was killed in the Medflight helicopter crash of last May. Through the efforts of Dr. Bean, the Department received approval at the state level last year to allow the Department's paramedics and emergency medical technicians to revise their practices for cardiac resuscitation and launch a county-wide program designed to improve survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest - rates that have not changed locally or nationally in 20 years. Dr. Bean was a passionate advocate for the training of lay responders in the technique. The City of Madison Fire Department's Saturday training will be part of a county-wide initiative by Dane County EMS. The Department is especially grateful to Madison's Public Library System and the American Red Cross - Badger Chapter for their generous support of this program.