City of Jackson prepares for 4-Minute City Awareness Week

JACKSON, TN (WNBJ) -The local non-profit, Friends of Heart, and the city of Jackson are preparing for their 4-Minute City Awareness Week.

4-Minute City is a project dedicated to deploying smart connected AED units in the community.

An AED is an automated external defibrillator used when someone is experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.

The hub city is one of five cities across the nation chosen to become a 4-Minute City.

Friends of Heart and the city will be hosting three AED and CPR training sessions next week to spread awareness about these helpful devices.

The Executive Director at Friends of Heart stresses the importance of these life-saving tools during a sudden cardiac arrest.

“There are about 350 thousand in the U.S.A. per year. The survival rate is a little over 10 percent. In Jackson, we have about a hundred a year and our survival rate are a little less than that 10 percent. If we all come together as a community. We can really make a difference in the survival rates of sudden cardiac arrest,” said Tracy Case, Executive Director with Friends of Heart.

All AED unit/CPR training sessions are free and open to the public.

The sessions are as follows:

• Mon., Sept. 27th at the University of Memphis Lambuth - 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Tues., Sept. 28th at Jackson State Community College - 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Thurs., Sept. 30th at Lane College - 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

All training will be taught by the Jackson Fire Department and Friends of Heart.