Press Releases

October 14, 2005

NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE DEALERS AND MARYLAND AUTO DEALERS ASSOCIATION CONTRIBUTE TO THE ARC TRAINING PROGRAM

[ABERDEEN, MD] - The National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation and the Maryland Auto Dealers Association presented a Resusci Anne training unit to The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region on October 6 at Plaza Ford in Bel Air. The Arc hopes to train citizens in Harford County, many of them Arc employees, on what to do when a person has a heart attack.

In presenting the CPR unit, which is essential for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training, Mr. Scrimger, Director of Dealer Services, Maryland Auto Dealers Association said, "If the right kind of treatment can be given within seconds of having a heart attack, a person's life may be saved. CPR training shows a person how to keep the heart beating until professional help arrives". Mr. Scrimger said that since the widespread training of Americans in CPR, there has been an increase in long-term survivors from ventricular fibrillation. The training takes from three to five hours of intensive practice and lectures.

In accepting the unit, Tim Quinn, Executive Director of The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region, said that The Arc trains at least 80 employees a year in CPR and often invites employees of other organizations to participate in trainings as well.

The CPR unit gives signals telling when the trainee is applying the right pressure in the right spot or breathing correctly into the victim's mouth. With the training, the students learn the "feel" of giving quick, lifesaving emergency treatment.

The National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation is part of the National Automobile Dealers Association with headquarters in McLean, Virginia. Its membership includes over 19.000 franchised new car and truck dealers in the United States.

The Arc offers a wide variety of services to individuals with developmental disabilities in Harford and Cecil County, both children and adults, to make informed choices in their lifestyles, vocations, education and recreational pursuits, and to assure stable and nurturing lives among their families and friends.