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The event is part of a statewide effort to train more people in the life-saving procedure. More than 20,000 Texans are expected to take part in the free, 20-minute training. Organizers will teach participants to perform CPR using only their hands. They call it the Texas Two Step. Lisa Basgall is director of Rice University Emergency Medical Services.
"The first step is to call for help, so call 9-1-1, if you come across a friend, a bystander, someone you don't know on the ground, somebody who is in cardiac arrest," Basgall says. "Step two is to start hands-only CPR by pushing hard and fast on the center of their chest."
The university is hosting one of 12 training sessions taking place across Greater Houston. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow at Rice Stadium. Basgall says instructors will teach people to recognize the signs of cardiac arrest.
"They have a much better chance for survival as soon as life-saving efforts are started," she says. "Even in the first minute or two, their chance of surviving this event is 80 or 90 percent if care is started right away."
According to the American Heart Association, only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims receive help from a bystander.