• COVID-19 Resources
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Promotions
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • March 25, 2023

Milwaukee Courier Weekly Newspaper

"THE NEWSPAPER YOU CAN TRUST SINCE 1964"

  • News
  • Editorials
  • Education
  • Urban Business
  • Health
  • Religion
  • Upcoming Events
  • Classifieds

Be the Beat and Learn CPR to Save a Life

February 4, 2023

By Karen Stokes

Pastor Veloris Brooks Chaplaincy Program Coordinator with the Salvation Army Milwaukee. (Photo/Veloris Brooks)

February is Black History Month and also American Heart Month, the American Heart Association encourages people to Be the Beat by challenging every household or family to have at least one person who knows Hands-Only CPR.

“The purpose of the Be the Beat promotion is to educate people to get trained on CPR. Because it can definitely help save the life of someone who may be having a heart attack.

CPR being applied while the paramedics are on the way can save a life. The press down is being the beat, so while you’re waiting for help be that beat for them and intervene,” said Pastor Veloris Brooks, Chaplaincy Program Coordinator with the Salvation Army Milwaukee County.

Veloris shared her personal story on cardiovascular disease.

“In 2011 after 5 months of doctor appointments and trips to the emergency room telling them I wasn’t feeling good and they just diagnosed me with high blood pressure that they couldn’t get under control. The last time I went to the emergency room my blood pressure would just not stabilize and they decided to do a heart scan and found that I was 90% clogged in my left artery and 50% in my right. I just turned 40 years old that year and I had to have triple bypass heart surgery. I was a month away from losing my life by being misdiagnosed.”

The symptoms that Veloris experienced were that she basically did not feel good. She didn’t have the pain in the chest or the pain in the arm, she did have shortness of breath.

“I was working a lot and kind of always made excuses. I just felt like I had a bad flu and in January the flu was going around. I felt nauseated and sick to my stomach, tired and weak.

Pastor Veloris Brooks Chaplaincy Program Coordinator with the Salvation Army Milwaukee. (Photo/Veloris Brooks)

In February, I chalked it up to the flu, in March, I still wasn’t feeling good and the doctors still said my blood pressure was high,” Pastor Brooks said.

“The first thing Black people can do to be more heart healthy is manage stress because that was my cause,” she continued. “It wasn’t that it was genetic, it was stress, taking on too much. Take time out to de-escalate your day. Exercise, walk 30 minutes a day. Eat healthy and learn to rest.”

The American Heart Association (AHA) has resources for CPR training and information on maintaining a healthy heart. Go to www.heart.org

Share:

  • Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Be The Beat, CPR, Hands-Only CPR, Karen Stokes, Veloris Brooks-Mann

Read More - Related Articles

  • Milwaukee Woman Writes her First Novel, Dedicating it to Women
  • Seniors Across the Country Are Saving Millions of Dollars in Health Care Costs
  • Heart Healthy Habits for Kids
  • African American Roundtable Invests in Northwest Milwaukee
  • Biden Unveils New Plan for Medicare

View COVID-19 Resources

Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On Twitter
Follow Us On Twitter

Editorials

Lena Taylor
Lakeshia Myers
Rev Jesse Jackson Sr Ashanti Hamilton

Journalists

Mrinal Gokhale
Dylan Deprey
Karen Stokes
Hayley Crandall
Ana Martinez-Ortiz

Topics

Health Care & Wellness
Climate Change
Upcoming Events
Obituaries
Milwaukee NAACP

Politicians

Pres. Barack Obama
Gwen Moore
Tom Barrett
Milele A. Coggs
Spencer Coggs

Classifieds

Job Openings
Bid Requests
Req Proposals
Req Quotations
Apts For Rent

Contact Us

Milwaukee Courier
2003 W. Capitol Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53206
Ph: 414.449.4860
Fax: 414.906.5383

Copyright © 2023 · Courier Communications | View Privacy Policy | Site built and maintained by Farrell Marketing Technology LLC
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.