The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Firefighters teach RHS students CPR skills
Firefighters prep Riverside High students on handling emergencies
Riverside High School students learn CPR from firefighters and tell importance of preparation.
Riverside High School ninth-graders received a crash course in CPR.
On April 24, the Painesville Township Fire Department gave students a basic lesson on how to do handsonly cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Lt. Brian Moore said CPR can be completed with two steps.
“The first step is to call 9-1-1 and the second step is to push hard and push fast,” he said. “Those are the two things you really have to remember. We’re not checking for pulses and we’re not giving breaths anymore.”
Moore said the reason mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is not required with hands-on CPR is because someone who suddenly goes into cardiac arrest still has oxygen in their blood.
“The key is to circulate it,” he said. “By providing compressions to this person, you will actually become their blood pressure. When you’re doing compressions, you’re also going to give them some passive air that will help with the vital organs.”
Fire Chief Frank Huffman said every year 420,000 people die of sudden cardiac arrest and the majority of cardiac arrests occur outside of medical facility, such as at home or in public.
“What we’ve seen in the field is the best chance of survival is when someone starts CPR before we arrive,” he said.
Immediate CPR can dou- ble or even triple a person’s chance of survival, according to the American Heart Association.
“I feel like I could actually save someone’s life,” said 14-year-old Avery Tracz. “I feel so much more prepared.”
Her classmate, Jennifer Sivak, agreed that the lesson from the firefighters taught them how to properly and effectively respond in a cardiac emergency.
In addition to being educated on the importance of CPR, the students practiced performing compressions on adult mannequins with the help of 10 firefighters from the department.
This is the second year that Riverside College and Career Readiness Coordinator Keith Manos organized the CPR course.
“I appreciate the continued support from all the staff and the Painesville Township Fire Department,” he said.
The Ohio Department of Education mandates that high school students are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
“I think it’s great that the Ohio Department of Education mandates this,” Moore said. “It’s an awesome program.”
Huffman and Moore hope the students who participated in the CPR training course will be inspired to pursue a certified and more comprehensive course.
“I feel like I could actually save someone’s life.” — Avery Tracz, 14