Be kind to another’s heart

Now that Valentine’s Day is past, don’t forget to take care of your heart.

In that vein, the Plainfield Fire Department is reminding the community that February is American Heart Month, which is meant raise awareness of heart disease.

Cardiovascular disease claims more lives each year than all forms of cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease combined, according to the American Heart Association.

From 2015 to 2018, 58.8% of non-Hispanic Black females and 60.1% of non-Hispanic Black males had some form of cardiovascular disease, the American Heart Association said.

In 2018, coronary heart disease was the leading cause (42.1%) of cardiovascular deaths in the U.S. This was followed by stroke (17.0%), high blood pressure (11.0%), heart failure (9.6%), diseases of the arteries (2.9%) and other CVD (17.4%), the American Heart Association also said.

So the Plainfield Fire Protection District is encouraging everyone to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation, commonly known as CPR, for American Heart Month.

As an American Heart Association authorized provider of CPR and ECC courses, the district offers the following courses: Basic Life Support, Heartsaver CPR/AED, Heartsaver Adult Fire Aid/CPR/AED. Additionally, Heartsaver Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED and skill sessions for online courses available by appointment.

The Plainfield Fire Protection District also offers CPR or first aid courses for businesses within the fire district’s boundaries.

For more information or to register for a class, visit plainfieldfpd.org/cpr/.

The district also said the community can check out a CPR Anytime Kit from the Plainfield Public Library. This allows the community to learn CPR “from the comfort of your home,” according to the release.

In fact, firefighter/paramedic Bryan Gallup, the district’s AHA training center coordinator, recently donated four of those kits to the library.

In addition, the district has also created this Hands Only CPR video for people who wish to learn the basics of Hands Only CPR. The video is just six minutes long and available on the Plainfield FPD Training YouTube page.