HEARTSafe initiative aims to expand cardiac arrest response throughout Ottawa County

A local initiative working to improve survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest is looking to expand its reach across Ottawa County.

HEARTSafe is a community-based initiative created to improve survival rates for people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. After meeting 13 criteria designated by the Citizen CPR Foundation, a locality can officially be named a HEARTSafe community. One of these criteria includes 15% of residents having been certified in CPR training.

“The criteria come together to develop an effective CPR response,” said HEARTSafe Holland Board President Jon Krohmer. “For an effective CPR program, there needs to be early recognition of cardiac arrest by the community and citizens.”

The Citizen CPR Foundation formed in 1987 to advocate for widespread CPR training and the distribution of accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The foundation’s HEARTSafe initiative was established in 2002, and locally, the first HEARTSafe program popped up in Holland in September 2022.

Holland resident and retired paramedic Steve Stegeman approached the city’s fire department to be the lead agency in creating a HEARTSafe community. Since then, numerous stakeholders, including the Ottawa County Central Dispatch Authority, Holland Hospital and the Ottawa County Department of Public Health, have worked in collaboration to train and educate members of the community in heart health and safety.

“The analogy that we use is a motor speedway race,” explained Krohmer. “The pit crew is very well coordinated in what they do when the car comes into the pit. We do the same thing with CPR.”

OCDPH Educator Rajvir Kaur represents the department on the Holland HEARTSafe coalition. Kaur said the OCDPH provides health education expertise, outreach and communication support, and funding support through grant writing and coordination.

“Prevention education and emergency response readiness are public health priorities, and HEARTSafe fits with the department’s mission of assuring conditions that promote and protect health for all in our community,” Kaur said.

Krohmer explained that while the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross are diligent about teaching CPR, they don’t focus on components such as the coordination between first responders and transport agencies. 

When someone suffers from cardiac arrest, their potential for survival decreases 10% every minute they stay in cardiac arrest. Krohmer believes the HEARTSafe initiative is critical because it combines a chain of components needed when attempting to save a life.

A seminal event occurred in the early stages of HEARTSafe Holland.

Former Holland City Councilman Jay Peters, one of the program’s initial volunteers, had just received CPR training and was driving back from Meijer with his friend, Holland resident John Shae.

Shae suffered a cardiac arrest while in the vehicle, and Peters started CPR while waiting for first responders to arrive. Shae has since been an advocate and supporter of the program.

In addition to the program in Holland, the HEARTSafe initiative exists in the Tri-Cities area— covering Grand Haven, Ferrysburg and Spring Lake — and Saugatuck-Douglas. 

Kaur outlined the support that the OCDPH has given to the Tri-Cities and Saugatuck-Douglas coalitions.

“OCDPH has supported HEARTSafe Saugatuck-Douglas with coalition-building guidance, shared grant funding and support for the Allegan County Health Department in its role with the coalition,” Kaur said. “OCDPH was also recently invited to get involved with the Tri-Cities coalition, (as) that partnership is just getting underway.”

The three programs are hoping to meet this month to strategize and come up with methods to support one another’s endeavors. 

“We believe there are similarities in the three existing programs,” said Krohmer. “We're going to try and get a meeting together— hopefully early to mid-September— to talk about what's going on, what the challenges are and figure out ways that we could support and complement each other.”

Looking to the future, local HEARTSafe volunteers have the goal of covering the entirety of Ottawa County’s geographic area. While individual programs are community-based and do not form on the county level, volunteers aspire to increase the number of cities in the county that have programs and are certified as HEARTSafe.

Krohmer said there is interest in HEARTSafe from Holland Township, Park Township, Zeeland Township and the city of Zeeland.

“We're hoping that combining our efforts will end up achieving the goal of covering the entire Ottawa County geographic area,” Krohmer explained.

He added that it is a challenge nationwide for programs to take shape in minority communities and localities where English is not residents’ first language.

“We have had some initiatives starting to work with the Hispanic community and we're hoping that that will pick up,” said Krohmer. “Those who are affected by sudden cardiac arrest and that need additional training are those who are affected by difficulty in access to the healthcare community.”

As HEARTSafe volunteers work to expand the initiative’s reach to new areas and communities that face barriers to healthcare access, Krohmer encourages county residents to take part in CPR training opportunities.

If a business, organization, school or church is interested in holding a CPR training, Krohmer urges reaching out to the nearest HEARTSafe program to schedule a class.

— Contact ONN reporter Hailey Hentz at hhentz@ottawanewsnetwork.org.