LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Expectant parents at Kentucky Children's Hospital will soon have access to a lifesaving resource: special infant CPR kits.
It's all because of a gift from the Tempur Sealy Foundation.
UK Pediatric Cardiology nurse Gloria Okorley and other medical experts at Kentucky Children's Hospital want to make sure new parents know how to do infant CPR because it could save their baby's life.
Officials with the American Heart Association of Central and Eastern Kentucky say across the US, more than 23,000 go into cardiac arrest yearly.
Covering Kentucky
Winchester Fire Department seeks donations to aid firefighter with brain tumor
Sadly, seven thousand of those babies don't make it.
So, the AHA teamed up with the Tempur Sealy Foundation for a special donation to Kentucky Children's Hospital.
"This gift today of 25,000 dollars will go towards the purchase of 500 infant CPR Anytime training kits provided by the American Heart Association," said Scott Vallet with Tempur Sealy. "It will go towards parents and families to prepare for an unthinkable emergency."
What's in those CPR kits that will be given out to expectant parents and caregivers?
"The kit includes an infant mannequin, instructional videos, and other resources to provide parents and caregivers hands on practice to equip them with the lifesaving skills they will need in the event of a cardiac emergency," said Andrea Ooten, Executive Director of the American Heart Association of Central and Eastern Kentucky.
Sports
Jerry West, basketball great, embodiment of NBA, dead at 86
Okorley knows the importance and peace of mind those kits will bring to parents.
"Time is essential when someone is down. You just don't know what could have happened," said Okorley. "By being able to perform 2 minutes of CPR, then going to get help, you could have saved that child's life."
According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the most common causes of injury deaths to infants are from choking and suffocation.
