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“WPS has been an industry leader in wellness, and we include safety as a critical part of complete wellness” stated Hanna Rosenthal Corporate Vice President, WPS Health Insurance. “Trying to be a model employer, WPS wants to urge all employers to participate in a training like this – to protect your employees and teach as many people as possible how to do Compression-Only CPR, and how to save lives at work!”

In Celebration of their 100th year anniversary, the Badger Chapter of American Red Cross is partnering in this workplace training initiative, “Saving Lives at Work”  to increase the number of people throughout the area that are trained in this life saving technique. They are the first Red Cross chapter in the country to offer Compression-Only CPR training, and their campaign will include training for thousands of employees in workplaces throughout the coming year.

“All of us can in some way or another connect with someone who has had a cardiac arrest - a family member, a co-worker, a friend, or a neighbor” stated Tom Mooney, CEO of the Badger Chapter of the American Red Cross. “No one is immune and it can happen to anyone. If we can get more and more people educated and aware of Compression Only CPR - just think about the number of lives we can save and impact!”

United Way of Dane County partners with the Red Cross, WPS Health Insurance, and Dane County to advance each area of the community’s Agenda for Change, and “Saving Lives at Work” will make a significant impact on Dane County safety. By providing Red Cross with 50 new “Little Annies” to increase the scale of training at workplaces like WPS Health Insurance, United Way is helping increase the capacity of Red Cross training efforts.

“United Way is committed to increasing the safety of our community through strong partnerships such as these” asserted Deedra Atkinson, Vice President of Community Impact, United Way of Dane County. “When non-profits, businesses, and local governments can work together on initiatives such as ‘Saving Lives at Work’  we will see even greater results in our community with this researched based technique.”

Compression Only CPR was developed in Madison in a collaboration with the Madison Fire Department, Dane County Emergency Management, Dr. Darren Bean, Dr. Michael Kellum, and Dr. Paul Stiegler. The new technique allays people’s fears about doing CPR correctly because it only involves chest compressions, and the training can be done in a much shorter session than traditional CPR.  Recent studies from EMS services in Rock and Walworth counties show that neurological intact rates of survivors of cardiac arrest increased from 15% using traditional CPR to 45% using Compression Only CPR.

“This evidence compels us to make sure we teach this very simple method to all” remarked Dr. Paul Stiegler. “It is simple (compressions only), consistent, and there is no need for mouth to mouth ventilations. It doesn't get any better.”