Folks living in Hermitage will soon get a chance to learn more about life-saving measures they can take to help their neighbors.

Hermitage, in partnership with UPMC Horizon, have launched an education program called Minutes Matter aimed at providing the community access to fundamental emergency information and education about life-saving interventions.

"We're proud to partner with the city on this important initiative because you don't have to be a trained medical professional to make a difference in someone's life," said Zachary Lenhart, vice-president, operations, UPMC Horizon. "Learning simple, easy-to-understand emergency skills empowers bystanders to provide critical help during these life-threatening and highly stressful situations."

Minutes Matter teaches people how to respond to simple, life-threatening emergencies related to opioid overdoses, mental health crisis, uncontrolled bleeding and cardiac arrest through training in the use of an automated external defibrillator, Narcan usage and more.

"This training impacts everyone; the parent of a child whose heart suddenly stops, or someone who comes home to find their partner overdosed, or the person whose friend was just shot in front of them," said Gary Gulla, assistant city manager. "This is not the time to bury our heads and pretend like this stuff doesn't happen. Thanks to this training, you can be the one to save their life. This does not have to be their time to go."