Heart Association offers free C.P.R. training

While February is usually associated with Valentine’s Day, there’s another reason to see big red hearts as today’s the start of American Heart Month. Free C-P-R training is being offered in four Iowa cities this month: Bettendorf, Des Moines, Sioux City and Iowa City.Jenny Crome, spokeswoman for the American Heart Association’s Heartland Chapter in Davenport, encourages people to get trained in C-P-R and in how to use “automated external defibrillators” or A-E-D’s. The devices can jump-start a person’s heart. She says the A-E-D is easy to use, with a little training.Crome says A-E-D’s can be found all over Iowa now — in fact, police cars in Davenport, West Des Moines and Cedar Rapids all have them in their trunks.The free C-P-R training is being offered this weekend in Des Moines, February 9th in Sioux City, February 17th in Iowa City and on the 23rd in Bettendorf. Other courses are being offered this month, too. Call 877-AHA-4CPR for more information.