(Radio Iowa)- Heart disease is the number-one killer in Iowa, claiming more than seven-thousand lives each year. Cara Whipple, spokeswoman for the Iowa chapter of the American Heart Association, is urging Iowans to learn C-P-R because they need to do more than just call for help, they need to -be- the help.

“Rates of cardiac arrest outside of the hospital, it’s around 70%, and when that happens, nine out of ten times when they don’t have cardiac arrest in a hospital, they do not survive,” Whipple says, “and the largest reason for that is lack of bystander response.” The organization says more than 417-thousand Americans die from cardiac arrest every year, and Whipple says it’s vital that anyone can step in as a first responder — until the real first responders arrive.

“We really need folks to understand that cardiac arrest can happen anywhere. It could be the grocery store or a school event or perhaps while you’re at the gym,” Whipple says. “Our EMS providers in this state are fantastic, but we have a lot of volunteer responders and response times can be long.” The organization routinely offers free C-P-R courses, both in the classroom and virtually. As part of American Heart Month, Whipple urges people to take part in Friday’s “Wear Red Day.”

“We encourage everyone to get their red on, wear their heart pins if they’ve got them, and just anything we can do to elevate people thinking about their heart health,” she says, “and it’s never too young to start thinking about your heart health.” Friday is also Go Red For Women Day, to raise awareness of heart attacks and strokes in women.

For more heart health tips, visit heart.org.