Fallon Ambulance to Provide CPR Training to More than 100 Weymouth School Staff and Coaches

The daylong training event was coordinated between Paul Coakley, Fallon’s Training Coordinator, and the Weymouth Public Schools. In Weymouth, Janet Brooks is the Coordinator of Health Services and says that a goal of the exercise is to make Weymouth a ‘heart safe’ community.

The program follows the American Heart Association’s curriculum for the Heartsaver – AED program and will include instruction, demonstrations and a written evaluation for participants. The training programs include instruction on the use of lifesaving automatic external defibrillators (AED). The use of AEDs is a vital link in the Chain of Survival. This training is an important first step of a preventive medical plan. Fallon recently trained all of the Weymouth School Nurses as CPR instructors.

Fallon Ambulance is responsible for all emergency medical responses for Weymouth, providing 24-hour Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedic service and working closely with the Weymouth Police and Fire Departments.

“We want to make Weymouth a Heart Safe Community,” said Janet Brooks, adding “Fallon was wonderful in working with our nurses on the AED training and now our nurses are taking the lead to get the program off the ground. Our goal is to implement public access to AEDs (automatic external defibrillators) and make them readily available and our first task was to train the school staff.”

In the United States alone, greater than 350,000 adults die from sudden cardiac arrest each year. That’s nearly 700 people a day. Sudden cardiac death in people less than 21 years old is one-tenth as common as in adults, occurring in only 1 to 2 children per 100,000 per year. Sudden cardiac arrest is not preventable and can occur in cardiac patients as well as those lacking signs of cardiac illness.

In sudden cardiac arrest, the most frequent and successful emergency lifesaving method is the use of the external defibrillator, which corrects cardiac ventricular fibrillation through the application of electrical shock. Since the most successful response to sudden cardiac arrest is rapid, immediate application of shock by defibrillator, every minute of delay reduces the chances of success by 10 percent. According to the American Heart Association, the value of CPR by bystanders is that it can buy valuable time by prolonging life during a ventricular fibrillation.

“We are extremely pleased at the number of teachers, staff and coaches that have come forward for this training,” said Peter Racicot, Senior Vice President of Business Development of Fallon Ambulance. “With this kind of outpouring for CPR training the town of Weymouth serves as a model for all municipalities in their proactive approach to public health and safety.”

Paul Coakley, Fallon’s BLS Training Coordinator, estimates that there will be at least a dozen paramedics from Fallon participating in the training, along with one mannequin for every two participants. The daylong training will be a large step in Weymouth’s goal toward becoming a ‘Heart Safe’ community.

Fallon Ambulance Service provides a number of community programs to benefit residents of the municipalities where they provide 9-1-1 coverage. The company participates in a number of outreach programs, including partnerships with schools; cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for police and fire departments; ambulance tours, instruction in emergency medical care such as the use of defibrillators; and participation in health fairs.

Fallon Ambulance Service was founded in 1936 by James R. Fallon, Sr., and has remained a family operated business to this day. The founder’s son, James R. (Ray) Fallon, Jr., and five of his children have all played an integral role in the company’s operation and growth. Fallon Ambulance employs more than 400 personnel, and operates 115 vehicles. The company provides 9-1-1 service to Milton, Quincy, Brookline, Weymouth, Braintree and Dedham as well as primary backup to Boston and Randolph. Fallon Ambulance Service also provides medical transportation for a number of nursing homes, hospitals, and HMOs throughout Greater Boston. Headquarters are at 111 Brook Road, Quincy, MA 02169, and Fallon Ambulance operates satellite offices in Weymouth, Allston and Quincy, MA. A new state-of-the-art headquarters is slated for opening in Quincy in the Fall, 2004. Fallon Ambulance Service is a several-time recipient of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce’s “Success Profile,” and the “local heroes” award by the South Shore Community Action Council. For additional information about Fallon Ambulance services or programs that the company offers, contact Peter Racicot, Senior Vice President of Business Development, at (617) 745-2100, ext. 117 or visit www.fallonambulance.com.