A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Recognizing February 4, 2011, as Wear Red Day and urging citizens of the state to be aware of cardiovascular disease in order to save lives.

    WHEREAS, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in South Dakota and the nation; and

    WHEREAS, cardiovascular disease is the nation's costliest disease with direct and indirect costs estimated to be two hundred twenty-eight billion dollars; and

    WHEREAS, nearly two thousand two hundred Americans die of cardiovascular disease each day, an average of one death every thirty-nine seconds; and

    WHEREAS, nearly one in three deaths due to cardiovascular disease occur before the age of seventy-five years; and

    WHEREAS, an estimated seven hundred eighty-five thousand people in the United States will have a new coronary attack and an estimated four hundred seventy thousand people nationwide will have a recurrent attack; and

    WHEREAS, the research is clear that there are preventive strategies, as well as community-

based strategies, that can increase survival rates from cardiovascular disease; and

    WHEREAS, the American Heart Association's 2020 impact goal seeks to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by twenty percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by twenty percent through research, population-level and community-level interventions, public health, and policy measures; and

    WHEREAS, efforts of the American Heart Association encourage citizens to help save lives by calling 911 if symptoms occur, become trained in Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation, and develop comprehensive automated external defibrillator programs in their communities; and

    WHEREAS, the American Heart Association is celebrating February 2011 as American Heart Month and promoting education and awareness by encouraging citizens to learn the warning signs of heart attack and stroke:

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Senate of the Eighty-sixth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the House of Representatives concurring therein, in recognition of the importance of the ongoing fight against cardiovascular disease, that February 4, 2011, be recognized as Wear Red Day.