Eugene Family YMCA opens free CPR, AED training to public in May

The Eugene Family YMCA is opening its campus to anyone in Lane County who wants free CPR and AED training before summer gatherings, pool days and ballgames put ordinary bystanders face-to-face with a cardiac emergency.

The YMCA’s HEARTsafe Community Training is open to the public, not just members, and registration is required for the Sunday, May 3, 2026 class from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on the YMCA campus in Eugene. The nonprofit says the goal is to give participants the confidence to respond when every second counts. Space is limited, and registration is already open through the YMCA.

The offer lands at a practical moment for families, coaches, teachers, volunteers and anyone who spends time around children or crowds. In a heart-related emergency, the first help often comes from whoever is nearby, long before paramedics arrive. That is why public CPR and AED instruction matters as a community safety tool, not just a fitness add-on.

Oregon health data show why that first response matters. In 2018, bystander-initiated CPR was reported at 50% in Oregon, compared with 40% nationwide. The state’s Utstein survival rate that year was 39%, above the national rate of 33%. The American Red Cross says survival chances fall by about 10% for every minute CPR and AED use are delayed, while immediate CPR can triple the chance of survival.

The American Heart Association has also made widening that skill base a priority, saying it trained more than 168,700 Oregonians in Hands-Only CPR in the past year. The group has set a goal of raising bystander CPR rates nationally to 45% by 2028 and doubling cardiac arrest survival by 2030.

Lane County residents who cannot get into the YMCA session still have other options. Lane Fire Authority offers public CPR and first-aid certification classes at its fire stations in Eugene and Veneta. Those classes run about three hours, cover adult, child and infant CPR, AED use and basic first aid, and cost $45 per participant.

For people who have been meaning to learn CPR but have put it off, the YMCA class offers a free entry point into skills that can turn a frightened bystander into the first link in the chain of survival.