On the Friday after Thanksgiving, 2009, 69-year old Zillah resident Ellen Davis suffered a heart attack while shopping at the West Valley Walmart in Yakima. From her cell phone record and talking to her family, she found that at around 5:30 a.m., she called her oldest son to ask if her granddaughter needed a new coat, but she doesn't remember the call.

Read updated story

The next call was listed 12 minutes later, when emergency personnel used her phone to tell another son she was on her way to the hospital, having just suffered a heart attack. Ms. Davis walked out of Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital a week later, a little bruised and sore, but alive.

Davis was fortunate to have been found at Walmart by a number of individuals including off-duty emergency personnel, who knew what to do. Those individuals included Walmart employee Stephanie Pruett, Memorial nurse, Tara Prescott, Yakima Police Sergeant, Mike Henne, registered nurse Sara Wisner and Army Training Center fire fighter, Ed Vertrees. These professionals were able to begin CPR immediately and keep Ms. Davis' heart pumping until paramedics arrived.

But what happens if trained professionals aren't around? According to the American Heart Association, 80% of heart attacks occur in the home and Yakima County has a 46% higher death rate from heart attacks than the state average.

Help us teach our Yakima community to save a life, no matter where a cardiac event might occur. Join us for Save a Life, The Great CPR Blitz 2010.