The American Heart Association and Mercy College of Health Sciences have installed a hands-only CPR kiosk at Jordan Creek Town Center. The kiosk will enable members of the public to train themselves, within about five minutes, how to perform this life-saving technique.

“People used to be afraid of performing CPR because there were so many steps,” said Doug Fiore, president of Mercy College. “This kiosk gives everyone the opportunity to quickly learn hands-only CPR. It is the single best thing anyone can learn.”

The kiosk features a touch screen video program with a brief introduction and overview of hands-only CPR, followed by a practice session and 30-second test – all taking about five minutes to complete. With the help of a practice mannequin (a rubber torso), the kiosk gives feedback about the depth and rate of compressions and proper hand placement. 

The organizations say this will be the first such training kiosk in Iowa. In 2016, the American Heart Association and the Anthem Foundation introduced five of the kiosks, after an initial kiosk was piloted at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. To read more about the kiosks, click here.

Every year, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside a hospital and more than 20% occur in public places like airports, casinos and sports facilities. Studies show that hands-only CPR is equally as effective as conventional mouth-to-mouth CPR, and people are more likely to feel comfortable performing it.

The kiosk at Jordan Creek is located in front of Scheel’s between the first-floor entrance and the kids’ play place.