CORAL GABLES, Fla. (August 14, 2014) — With 70 percent of Americans lacking the knowledge to perform CPR, the University of Miami, Jackson Health System, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools, in collaboration with the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association, will host CPR Day Miami, a free, countywide training event for participants 11 and older on Saturday, September 6.  Available at seven locations, the 90-minute training sessions are offered multiple times between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The official opening ceremony for CPR Day Miami takes place from 10 to 11 a.m. at UM’s BankUnited Center Fieldhouse, with UM President Donna E. Shalala, Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and Carlos Migoya, president and CEO of Jackson Health System, in attendance.

Online registration, which is required, will be available until noon on Friday, September 5.

The importance of knowing how to perform CPR made international headlines this past February when then 5-month-old Sebastian de la Cruz stopped breathing in the backseat of his aunt’s car. His aunt, Pamela Rauseo, performed lifesaving CPR on Sebastian on the side of a busy Miami expressway, as a Miami Herald photographer captured dramatic images of the harrowing ordeal.

Sebastian was rushed to Holtz Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, and today is healthy, happy, and getting ready to celebrate his first birthday in September.

CPR Day Miami’s sponsoring organizations and their affiliates, which also include local fire and labor unions, have joined forces to bring this lifesaving skill to thousands of families on September 6 at the following locations throughout Miami-Dade County:

University of Miami
Fieldhouse at BankUnited Center
1245 Dauer Drive, Coral Gables

John A. Ferguson Senior High School
15900 S.W. 56th Street, Miami

Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School
1410 N.E. 215th Street, Miami

Greater Miami & The Keys Chapter of the American Red Cross
335 S.W. 27th Avenue, Miami

Coral Reef Senior High School
10101 S.W. 152nd Street, Miami

Booker T. Washington Senior High School
1200 N.W. Sixth Avenue, Miami

Hialeah Gardens Senior High School
11700 Hialeah Gardens Boulevard, Hialeah Gardens