HJBR Jan/Feb 2024

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  JAN / FEB 2024 63 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com “This is an achievement we’ve been working toward for nearly two years, and I couldn’t be prouder of our team,” said R. Scott Daugherty, MD, a colorectal surgeon at Baton Rouge Gen- eral. “Through our partnership with Mary Bird Per- kins, a multidisciplinary team from physicians to nutritionists continues to provide the most com- prehensive and innovative care to our patients.” To achieve accreditation, a rectal center must demonstrate compliance with the NAPRC stan- dards addressing program management, clinical services, and quality improvement for patients. Centers are required to establish a multidisci- plinary rectal cancer team that includes clinical representatives from surgery, pathology, radiol- ogy, radiation oncology, and medical oncology. Baton Rouge General Fills CPR Training Kit Need for Area Schools The American Heart Association, Capital Area, recently collaborated with Baton Rouge Gen- eral Hospital to fill an urgent CPR training need. Through this new local sponsorship, they are pro- viding seven CPR in Schools Training Kits, which will serve more than 8,000 Greater Baton Rouge students each year. The kits have 10 mannequins each and are sustainable and reusable, meaning the schools can continue to use them year after year, potentially adding more trained lifesavers to our community. The local American Heart Association has worked with local sponsors like Baton Rouge Gen- eral and others to make sure students have the resources they need to fulfill their CPR graduation requirement at no cost to schools. The schools receiving kits from this collaboration include: • Capitol High, EBR Schools. • East Ascension High, Ascension Schools. • Denham Springs High, Livingston Parish Schools. • Madison Prep, charter school. • Scotlandville High School. EBR Schools. • Baton Rouge Magnet High, EBR Schools Magnet Program. • Tara High, EBR Schools. The CPR in Schools Training Kits will empower students to learn the core skills of CPR in under 30 minutes, including AED skills and choking relief. Everything teachers need to properly educate stu- dents is included: an instructional video, facilita- tor’s guide, mannequins and a mannequin pump, knee pads, replacement parts, and sanitizer. “Many of the schools, public and private, throughout Greater Baton Rouge lack CPR kits for training. Thanks to the recognition of this need for our community, and the generosity of our local sponsors, tens of thousands of our students will now be able to save a life,” said Kerin Spears, executive director, American Heart Association, Capital Area. The Association is committed to turning a nation of bystanders into lifesavers through its Nation of Lifesavers movement. The new multi-year initiative will ensure teens and adults can learn about CPR and AED use, share that knowledge with friends and family, and engage employers, policymak- ers, philanthropists, and others to create support for a nation of lifesavers. The long-term goal: to ensure that in the face of a cardiac emergency, anyone, anywhere is prepared and empowered to perform CPR and become a vital link in the chain of survival. “Minutes really do matter when it comes to sur- viving a life-threatening event like cardiac arrest, and the good news is that hands only CPR is something anyone can learn,” said Trisha Guidry, chief operating officer at Baton Rouge General- Mid City. “Baton Rouge General is proud to help make these life-saving skills accessible to the youth in our community.” In 2014, the American Heart Association helped to pass the Burke Cobb Act, which made it a requirement for all Louisiana high school seniors to learn CPR before graduation. These kits pro- vide schools with the tools they need to teach hands only CPR skills and gives students the con- fidence necessary to perform CPR or use an AED, ultimately making our communities safer and empowering youth to save lives. n The American Heart Association, Capital Area, recently collaborated with Baton Rouge General Hospital to fill an urgent CPR training need.