While February brings to mind flowers and candy for Valentine’s Day, healthcare professionals know there is a bigger focus. During American Heart Month, we shine the spotlight on heart health. The burdens and risk factors of heart disease remain alarmingly high.
Heart Disease by the Numbers
Heart Disease (including Coronary Heart Disease, Hypertension, and Stroke) remains to be the number 1 cause of death in the United States and poses a significant threat to millions of others, according to the American Heart Association’s Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update 2019.
Occurrence
- Approximately every 40 seconds, an American will have a heart attack.
- Someone in the US has a stroke about once every 40 seconds.
- Between 2013 and 2016, 121.5 million American adults had some form of cardiovascular disease.
Deaths
- In the U.S., cardiovascular disease, listed as the underlying cause of death, accounts for nearly 840,678 deaths – that’s about 1 of every 3 deaths.
- Globally, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death, accounting for more than 17.6 million deaths per year in 2016, a number that is expected to grow to more than 23.6 million by 2030.
Cost
- Estimated $351 billion direct and indirect costs of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, that includes both health expenditures and lost productivity.
- Heart attacks ($12.1 billion) and Coronary Heart Disease ($9.0 billion) were 2 of the 10 most expensive hospital principal discharge diagnoses.
- The estimated direct and indirect cost of heart disease in 2014 to 2015 (average annual) was $218.7 billion.
“Life’s Simple 7”
The American Heart Association (AHA) determines the cardiovascular health of a nation by looking at 7 key health factors and behaviors that may increase the risk for heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association hopes to measure and track these 7 key factors to achieve the 2020 Impact Goal: to improve cardiovascular health of Americans by 20% and reduce the number of deaths attributed to cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20%.
The Life’s Simple 7 are:
- Stop Smoking
- Eat Better
- Get Active
- Lose Weight
- Control Cholesterol
- Manage Blood Pressure
- Reduce Blood Sugar
Tools to Help Make a Difference
The good news is healthcare professionals now have more tools than ever to help make a difference in awareness, management, and treatment for heart health.
The AHA provides resources for professionals to use directly as well as information that can be shared with patients for their own use. The AHA website for professionals provides the latest news and links to research, plus an extensive listing of resources by topic. The organization also offers sites such as My Life Check that can be recommended to your patients for their ongoing learning and management of their heart health.
Healthcare organizations must provide CPR and, in many cases, AED or other types of first aid training to meet regulatory requirements. This training equips employees with the critical skills needed to respond to and manage first aid emergencies such as choking, sudden cardiac arrest, and other serious or life-threatening events should they arise.
AHA is the world leader in CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) training and education. As a result, many healthcare providers rely on AHA Blended Learning and eLearning courses with complete assurance that their workforce is receiving the best possible training to save and improve the lives of the people they serve in case of emergencies.
Relias is pleased to work together with AHA to offer blended learning and e-learning courses directly through the Relias Platform . This provides healthcare organizations a streamlined way to deliver and track AHA training alongside existing compliance training and continuing education.
Our library of AHA Training includes the following:
Courses for Healthcare Professionals
Blended Learning Courses:
- HeartCode® ACLS
- HeartCode® BLS: CPR and AED Training
- HeartCode® PALS
Courses for General Workforce
Blended Learning Courses:
- Heartsaver® CPR AED Online
- Heartsaver® First Aid Online
- Heartsaver® First Aid CPR AED Online
- Heartsaver® Pediatric First Aid CPR AED Online
eLearning-Only Courses:
- Heartsaver® Bloodborne Pathogens
Relias also offers the new RQI 2020 program via the Relias Platform, as well as AHA Instructor Essential courses (PEARS, PALS, ACLS BLS, Heartsaver®) for those who have been accepted by their local AHA Training Center.
For more information on these AHA courses or the RQI 2020 program offered through Relias, please visit our AHA & RQI 2020 Training page.
