Peoria fire department aims to teach CPR to 8,000 people

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - A central Illinois fire department wants to teach CPR to 8,000 people over the next two years.

The Peoria Journal-Star reports the effort is part of a nationwide program known as Take Heart America. It's aimed at improving survival rates for cardiac arrest, in part by teaching more people to perform CPR.

Last year, the fire department's CPR outreach taught the skill to 650 people, though clinics at the Peoria County Courthouse square and several businesses.

Earlier this month they held a "pop-up" class at the courthouse, where people in the lunchtime crowd learned how to save a life in just a few minutes.

Peoria Fire Department EMS quality assurance officer Roland Tenley says bystanders can help someone survive a cardiac arrest just by doing chest compressions.