(MURFREESBORO) On Thursday (2/27/2020) Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron presented a proclamation to the American Heart Association stating that all 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers will be required to be trained in Telecommunicator Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (T-CPR). This prepares them to offer T-CPR instruction over the phone to callers or bystanders during emergency conditions.

The proclamation cites heart disease as the number one cause of death, with approximately 475,000 suffering sudden cardiac arrest every year. It further mentions that more than 90 percent who suffer cardiac arrest outside of the hospital die from it.

Rutherford County 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers seek to decrease the number of deaths by providing life-saving instruction over the phone until first responders arrive on scene.