Turn five minutes of airport downtime into a lifesaving layover

Airport travelers can now put their time to good use and take five minutes to learn the simple, yet lifesaving skills of Hands-Only CPR via interactive training kiosks debuting at five major airport hubs across the country, courtesy of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Anthem Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Anthem, Inc.

Each Hands-Only CPR training kiosk features a touch screen with a video program that gives a brief "how-to," followed by a practice session and a 30-second CPR test. With the help of a practice manikin, or a rubber torso, the kiosk provides feedback about the depth and rate of compressions and proper hand placement – factors that influence the effectiveness of CPR. The kiosks will be available at Chicago O'Hare International (ORD), Indianapolis International (IND), Las Vegas' McCarran International (LAS), Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI) airports. Two additional kiosks will be available at The Global Center for Health Innovation in Cleveland, Ohio and Anthem's office in Washington, D.C.

Every year, more than 359,000 cardiac arrests occur outside the hospital and more than 20 percent occur in public places like airports, casinos and sporting facilities. "Cardiac arrest remains a leading cause of death in the United States, and survival depends on immediately receiving CPR from someone nearby," said Clifton Callaway, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the AHA's Emergency Cardiovascular Care committee and professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. "Although in-person training is still the best way to learn high-quality CPR, the kiosk will provide additional training that could make a difference and save the life of someone you love."

The launch of these seven kiosks comes on the heels of the successful and life-saving pilot kiosk installed in 2013 at the Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW) by AHA and American Airlines Occupation Health Services. This kiosk, which is located in Terminal C, Gate 7, has trained more than 25,000 travelers.

"For those who suffer cardiac arrest outside of the hospital, only 10 percent survive – but effective bystander CPR provided immediately after cardiac arrest can double or even triple these chances," Dr. Craig Samitt, Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Anthem, Inc. said. "That's why for the past four years, we've been working closely with the American Heart Association to help educate people about Hands-Only CPR and we're excited to launch these new kiosks as an extension of this campaign. To date, we've helped to educate and train more than three million people in this life-saving skill with the goal of preparing people to act in an emergency to save the lives of strangers, or those they love most."

Just this month, The Anthem Foundation was the recipient of the 2016 AHA Impact Award in recognition of impacting the lives of people across the country by bringing them the lifesaving skill of Hands-Only CPR.

Five years ago, AHA simplified the steps of CPR to encourage more people to take action: if a bystander sees a teen or adult collapse, he or she should first call 9-1-1, then push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of "Stayin' Alive," which has the perfect cadence for proper CPR. Hands-Only CPR removes the step of rescue breaths; bystanders should simply keep pushing until emergency help arrives.

The timing of AHA's kiosk launches coincide with American Heart Month (February), a federally designated month devoted to raising awareness about heart disease and educating Americans about what they can do to live healthier lives, free of cardiovascular disease and stroke.