Idaho Heart Foundation to hold heart health awareness event for local youth
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IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho Heart Foundation is encouraging local youth to listen to their hearts – literally.
The Idaho Heart Foundation will be holding the 2022 Youth Cardiovascular Health Awareness event on May 20, from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m at the Waterfront at Snake River Landing.
The event titled, “Gotta Keep the Beat Goin'”, aims to spread the word about the importance of heart-related illnesses and provide CPR and AED training for youth in the eastern Idaho community.
An AED, or automated external defibrillator, is a portable device that allows a person administering CPR to place a pad on a victim’s bare chest. The device analyzes the rhythm of the heart and delivers an electric shock as necessary to stimulate the heart until help arrives.
According to a news release by the Idaho Heart Foundation, “Every 34 seconds, 1 American will have a heart attack, and every 1 minute, someone will die of their cardiovascular event. Current data shows that 22% of these persons are already dead by the time help arrives, and 37% of persons having a heart attack outside of a hospital are witnessed by someone.”
By encouraging those between the ages of 13 to 18 to attend, the foundation hopes to raise awareness and knowledge of serious heart illnesses that can affect young people.
“We don’t feel that there’s a lot of education structured for the youth in our community as far as it goes for serious health concerns,” Idaho Heart Foundation Vice President Jake Gilbert says. “Heart disease and heart failure, as I know personally, don’t stop or start at any given age. So the main goal of this event is to raise awareness and bring the education to the youth in our community.”
First responders from the Idaho Falls Police Department and the Idaho Falls Fire Department will be in attendance, providing health challenges and demonstrations of how to use AEDs.
“The youth of our community is an important part of our education campaign! Training and engaging the youth will hopefully ensure a healthier and more aware community,” according to the news release.
The event is free to the public and will include a live DJ, gaming competitions, a food and soda bar, and opportunities to learn more about CPR, AEDs and general good health.
The Idaho Heart Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and awareness of cardiovascular health in the community. Sponsors of this event include Fybercom and Lookout Credit Union.
For more information, visit the Idaho Heart Foundation website.