ST. GEORGE, Utah — A member of the St. George City Council is celebrating a year of life after it was nearly lost, lobbying for more people to learn the lifesaving CPR techniques that saved her.
“We were in Ibigawa, Japan. I was there with our city delegation that goes once a year,” St. George City Council Member Dannielle Larkin said. “My husband and I decided that we would run the marathon. The guns went off and we started running. And about two miles in, I collapsed.”
What happened next was a blank for Larkin. She just remembers waking up in the hospital wondering why her chest hurt.
“What I've been told happened after I collapsed is a doctor was right behind me and a couple of other women who were CPR certified and they immediately started doing CPR on me.,” Larkin said.
That doctor saved her life, Now with a pacemaker and defibrillator inside her body, Larkin says she was lucky but also thinks that luck is because someone nearby knew CPR. Now, she’s championing efforts to get more people to learn the skill that can save a life as well as more availability of AED defibrillator units.
“Because we were in Japan, they have AED units everywhere. Almost every light post that you see has an AED unit on it,” Larkin said. “I was lucky because you have to have CPR done relatively quickly after you collapse from cardiac arrest.”
In fact, the American Heart Association says there is just a 10% of surviving a cardiac arrest alone, as immediate CPR and access to a defibrillator are crucial for survival.
And contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to get a certification to learn CPR according to Benjamin Donner, who directs central and southern Utah for the American Red Cross.
“There are so many great, even virtual options of learning it and being able to, but not necessarily, have to be in person,” Donner said. “
Donner says the time to learn the CPR skills that may save the life of a city council member or a person someone cares about is now.
“Don't think about it and go, yeah, someday I'm going to do that. Act on it,” he said. “ in that moment that we are asked to act, the time to prepare has already passed.
