Novant Teams with Bridge of Hearts on CPR

Bridge of Hearts has improved its emergency preparedness with the help of a community grant from Novant Health that funded a new automated external defibrillator and emergency response training for the organization’s board members and volunteer leaders.

The training, held this week, included 20 participants and covered CPR awareness, bleeding control, proper AED use and emergency response procedures. The workshop was led by Kimberly Hensley, a clinical nurse educator with Novant Health, along with members of the health system’s community engagement team.

Bridge of Hearts, which supports homeless and impoverished children, sought the equipment and training because many of its volunteers and leaders are older than 60, according to Executive Director Dr. Linda Morris. She said the organization wanted to be prepared to respond if a medical emergency occurred at its facility while awaiting first responders.

Novant Health provided the AED through a community grant and coordinated the hands-on training as part of its efforts to support community health and emergency preparedness.