On Saturday February 11 and Sunday February 12, medical students from all 11 Texas medical schools will join forces with cardio-thoracic surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, his national non-profit HealthCorps, American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA), Texas Medical Association (TMA), Texas Medical Association Foundation (TMAF), Texas College of Emergency Physicians (TCEP), leadership consulting firm MaveRx, health law and consulting firm The Spiers Group, hospitals and medical schools across the state for the 2nd Annual Texas Two Step: Save a Life Campaign. Free hands-only CPR training will be offered over the two days at public sites in Amarillo, Austin, College Station, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Galveston, Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, the Valley and Waco.

During 5-minute training sessions, participants will learn how to act quickly in the event of cardiac emergencies by following two easy steps: 1) Call 911 and 2) Initiate hands-only CPR. “These simple tools could make the difference between life or death for someone you love,” says Texas-Two Step board member and University of Texas Medical Branch student Logan Walsh.

Dr. Oz will be participating in training sessions held in Houston on February 11 and in Dallas and Fort Worth on February 12. In Houston, he will participate in public training sessions at the Health Museum from 10:15 a.m.to 10:45 a.m., Sharpstown High School from 11:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Memorial City Mall from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Cavender’s South Loop W from 3:30 pm to 4:00 pm.  In Dallas, Dr. Oz will participate in training sessions at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and NorthPark Center from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. He will participate in training sessions at Hulen Mall in Fort Worth from 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Times are subject to change. Please go to www.tx2stepcpr.com for updates.

The event was created by a group of medical students and TCEP in 2016 after recognizing the need to train more Texans in lifesaving, hands-only CPR. Last year, the event trained more than 4200 individuals, with more than 650 medical students in 53 locations. The students hope to train 10,000 Texans this year and plan to grow the event into a nationally driven initiative in the future.

“Since heart disease is the number one killer of Texans, we knew it was important to help the medical students and our great partners bring this lifesaving event to our communities again this year,” said TCEP President Heather Owens.

The participating medical students attend: Baylor College of Medicine; Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine; Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine; Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine; University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine; The University of Texas at Austin-Dell Medical School; The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McGovern Medical School; The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; The University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio; The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Medical School; and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The Texas Two Step CPR 2017 is led by the Texas Two Step Board of Directors: Shyam Murali (Chair), Logan Walsh (Chair), Tony Balda, Teresa Dunphy, Matt Millington, Shehni Nadeem and Albert Shih.

Statewide sponsors of the event include: Texas Medical Center (TMC), Cavender’s Boots, iBeat and Sanavi Water. Statewide partners include:  ACEP, EMRA, TMA, TMAF, TCEP, HealthCorps.org, MaveRx and The Spiers Group. Regional sponsors and partners for each city can be found on the event website.

To learn more about Texas Two Step: Save a Life Campaign please visit www.tx2stepcpr.com to find a training near you. Times and locations vary based on training sites. People are encouraged to show support for this lifesaving event by following @TX2StepCPR on Twitter.

(News release from Texas Two Step “Save a Life” Campaign)