HEARTsafe Bend

Bend Fire & Rescue is a national leader in cardiac arrest survival rates, and we are proud to have been awarded the American Heart Association “Gold” Lifeline EMS award for five years in a row for using high-quality methods to treat patients who experience cardiac arrest.

We are committed to increasing survival rates of patients who experience cardiac arrest through training and teamwork with dispatchers, law enforcement, nurses, doctors and most importantly, YOU – the Bend community.

Bend Fire is leading the charge to make Bend a HEARTsafe Community. To be designated a HEARTSafe Community, Bend must meet the following criteria:

• A lead organization (Bend Fire) to oversee and coordinate HEARTSafe efforts.
• Track and study how often cardiac arrests happen and how they are handled.
• Train at least 15% of the people in Bend in CPR each year and keep training more people every year.
• Thank and recognize people in the community who do CPR to try to save someone’s life.
• Help more people understand what cardiac arrest is and how they can help if it happens.
• Implement a Telecommunicator CPR (T-PCR) Program (911 Call takers providing CPR instruction over the phone)
• Have a system to review and improve how emergency teams respond to heart emergencies.
• Teach people how to keep their hearts healthy through education and prevention.
• Ensure schools and public buildings have good plans for heart-related emergencies.
• Place AEDs (machines that help restart the heart) in public places like malls, grocery stores, and theaters.
• Keep a list of where all the AEDs are located.
• Make sure police and firefighters are trained to use AEDs.
• Emergency responders practice “high-performance” CPR

Heart emergencies can happen anywhere, anytime. A person’s chances of surviving are much better if someone nearby helps before the fire department arrives. That’s why Bend Fire wants to teach people in the community how to act and help in an emergency.

PulsePoint is an app that can be downloaded to notify you of emergencies happening in your community.

This powerful app can also help people in the community respond to heart emergencies by doing CPR or bringing important tools, like a defibrillator, to the scene.

Become a Community First Responder

Community members who know how to do CPR or use a defibrillator can sign up to be first responders. These responders get alerts when someone nearby is having a heart emergency. They might do CPR or bring tools to help before emergency crews like Bend Fire arrive.

There is no formal training required. In fact, Hands-Only CPR is the best way to help early in a heart emergency, and it’s easy to learn by watching short videos online!

Learn how you can help save a life in this one-minute American Heart Association video showing Hands-Only CPR in action. Bend Fire also offers free CPR classes for community members at the beginning of each month.

Locate and Register Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)

Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are devices that can help save someone’s life. Registered AEDs, like those seen on this map, can be found by 911 call centers and shared with people nearby during heart emergencies.

If you know of an AED that isn’t included on this map, you can register it so others can find it in an emergency.

Download PulsePoint AED for free and use it to report AEDs in the Bend area, or register an AED online.