North Carolina Trains Nearly 20,000 in Life-Saving CPR

Nearly 20,000 North Carolinians learned how to save a life in just one day, breaking a national record and creating an army of potential lifesavers across the state.

On Wednesday, Onslow Memorial Hospital and Onslow County Emergency Medical Services joined forces with Duke University and 30 other counties to train 19,739 people in hands-only CPR. The ambitious goal was to break the world record of 28,000 people set in India in 2019.

While the global record stayed intact, the state shattered the U.S. record for most people trained in CPR in a single day. In Onslow County alone, 1,500 residents learned the critical skill at Coastal Carolina Community College.

Nancy Pate, an emergency department educator at Onslow Memorial Hospital, spent the day teaching students like Gracie Tompkins and Kendall Barker the simple techniques that can restart a heart. Onslow County EMS members and cadets joined hundreds of others across the state in the coordinated training effort.

The statewide event was part of Duke University's RACE-CARS Trial, bringing together hospitals, emergency services, and community colleges. Partners worked simultaneously across North Carolina to maximize the number of people trained.

The Ripple Effect

Every person trained represents a potential life saved. When someone suffers cardiac arrest outside a hospital, immediate CPR can double or even triple their chances of survival.

The beauty of hands-only CPR is its simplicity. No mouth-to-mouth required, just chest compressions to keep blood flowing until help arrives. Anyone can learn it in minutes, but those minutes of training can mean the difference between life and death for someone's parent, child, or friend.

Now nearly 20,000 more North Carolinians can step up in an emergency instead of standing helpless. They're spread across communities, workplaces, schools, and homes throughout the state.

Victoria Morales, public relations and marketing manager at Onslow Memorial Hospital, confirmed the U.S. record was broken. That means more Americans were trained in one day than ever before in the nation's history.

The coordinators may not have claimed the world record, but they claimed something better: thousands of newly trained responders ready to act when seconds count.