During a cardiac emergency, every second...every minute that passes without CPR or AED use can mean the difference between life and death. It can take the ambulance 30 minutes to respond in South Dakota's more remote areas.
The Cardiac Ready Community (CRC) Program helps educate, equip, and empower local community members to be better prepared and more confident in helping someone experiencing a cardiac event before the ambulance arrives. Start the conversation in your community and help assemble a CRC Team!
The CRC Team works together to create a system of care where community members, city officials, business owners, dispatchers, emergency medical services (EMS), police, fire, and hospital staff work together.
Is your community prepared to respond to a cardiac emergency?
Program Information
The program defines what a community team must do to receive the Cardiac Ready Community Designation.
Join the Program
When your community is interested in achieving the designation, submit a Letter of Intent to the SD Department of Health.
Toolkit
The toolkit contains sample social media posts and accompanying graphics in a downloadable zip file.
Cardiac Ready Communities: Hope
An Elk Point couple discusses the importance of being cardiac-ready after they experience a cardiac event in rural South Dakota.
