Not every healthcare worker caring for patients during the surge of COVID-19 will have recent experience using ventilators to help their patients survive.                  

SIOUX FALLS, SD — The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust today announced a $200,000 grant to assist the American Heart Association (AHA), the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, in creating and disseminating up-to-date training on the use of ventilators for COVID-19 patients.

“With intensive care units overwhelmed, or expecting to be soon, hospitals are recruiting non-ICU personnel to care for critically ill patients,” said Walter Panzirer, a Helmsley Trustee. “Surgeons, nurses, and other healthcare providers, in some cases returning retirees or medical students, are becoming responsible for caring for critical patients, often without recent training, skills, or experience in working with these patients.”

AHA, in concert with the American Association of Respiratory Care and American Society of Anesthesiologists, will develop programs that enable health care professionals to freely and conveniently learn the basics of oxygenation and ventilation management.

The modules include guidance for reducing risks associated with ventilators and on techniques for lessening the risk to health care providers. The training is available at cpr.heart.org.

Helmsley funds will support the ongoing creation of materials for the AHA’s Oxygenation and Ventilation Training Hub as well as direct outreach to hospitals and digital advertising to promote the hub to health care providers and facilities across the country.

“The American Heart Association is a trusted source for healthcare professional training in emergency medical care, including oxygenation and ventilation,” Panzirer said. ”It is well positioned to quickly deploy targeted training resources to give non-ICU professionals the competence and confidence to appropriately treat patients during the COVID-19 crisis.”

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About the Helmsley Charitable Trust

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has committed more than $2.6 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. Helmsley’s Rural Healthcare Program funds innovative projects that use information technologies to connect rural patients to emergency medical care, bring the latest medical therapies to patients in remote areas, and provide state-of-the-art train $450 million to organizations and initiatives in the upper Midwest states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa, and Montana.  For more information, visit www.helmsleytrust.org.

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, the American Heart Association funds innovative research, advocates for the public’s health and shares lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

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Contact:

Mark Andersen, 402-730-9610