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cpr pennsylvania

Kidsburgh, Pennsylvania Passes Law Requiring Students To Learn CPR

February is heart month, and Pennsylvania passed a new law that requires that all students learn CPR before they graduate from high school.

They’ve already been doing this at Cornell High School in Coraopolis. That’s because five years ago, a student there collapsed in gym class. His heart just stopped.

Thankfully, two staff members knew CPR, and with their chest compressions and an AED, they were able to restart his heart before the paramedics arrived, and the boy survived.

When the current freshmen taking the CPR class hear this story, it hits home. Samani Allen said she was “kinda scared.” Lilly Brown said, “I heard it can happen anywhere, but that it can happen at a school kind of surprised me.”

According to the American Heart Association, about 326,000 people in the United States, including more than 6,000 children, experience unexpected cardiac arrest outside of a hospital every year. Sadly, 90 percent of them die.

Bruce Benda, Chairman of the Board for the Greater Pittsburgh American Heart Association, lived to tell how CPR saved his life, when his heart stopped at a golf outing.

“Two gentlemen, lay people, jumped into action and did CPR on me for 20 minutes. (They) kept me alive until the EMT’s arrived,” Benda said.

The survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest drops by 10 percent every second CPR is not performed. CPR trainer Deb Banks teaches the kids how to push at 100 beats a minute by singing the song “Stayin’ Alive”.

Learn CPR Online

She helped save a man’s life by doing CPR on vacation in Puerto Rico, but four out of five cardiac arrests happen in the home.

Cornell School District Superintendent Dr. Aaron Thomas, said, “We have students that are home alone with younger siblings. We have students that are home alone with grandparents and obviously their parents.” Allen added, “It’s important to know because if you’re with a family member and just yourself, you could help them.”

Pennsylvania high schools are now required to teach kids CPR before they graduate. That’s thousands of people who will be trained every year.

“Many people will just kind of step back and say, ‘I don’t know what to do. I’m afraid to hurt the person. I’m not trained. I’m not certified,’” Bruce Benda said. The hope is that now, these kids won’t step back but will step up and help.

Freshman Dominick Schneider said, “I thought maybe I should learn because there are things in the world that can happen.”

The American Heart Association hopes that the kids will go home and teach their parents and grandparents as well, but they would love to train anyone who wants to learn.

They also encourage all businesses to get an AED.

News Source: https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/02/12/pennsylvania-students-must-learn-cpr/

CPR Kiosk

Iowa Mall has Kiosk that Teaches CPR

A first-in-Iowa high-tech kiosk is opening at a shopping mall in central Iowa today with the goal of teaching people a few simple steps that could help to restart a heart.

Doug Fiore, president of Mercy College of Health Sciences, says the kiosk is emblazoned with the words, “Learn to save a life,” and it teaches the basics of doing hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation — or CPR — in about five minutes. “There’s a screen in front of you that gives you a lesson and right down in front of you, where your hands would rest, it’s a sort of soft pillowy matter,” Fiore says. “It’s designed to simulate chest compressions.”

People who use the kiosk won’t be CPR certified, but they will learn the essentials in what could make them a hero in a life-or-death situation.  “In a very, very short period of time, in just a minute, a person can see how to give hands-only CPR and then try it out on the kiosk,” Fiore says, “and it gives feedback on how you’re doing.”

Every year nationwide, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests happen outside of hospitals, while more than 20-percent occur in public places like airports, casinos and sporting facilities. This device is located in a high-traffic area at Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines.

“It’s right near the childs’ play area at the mall so there are a lot of people who spend some time sitting in that area,” Fiore says. “This way there’s an activity you can engage in while you’re there that actually will save lives.” Studies show hands-only CPR is equally as effective as conventional mouth-to-mouth CPR and people are more likely to feel comfortable performing it.

Fiore says the Des Moines-based private college is investing “a few hundred thousand dollars” in the kiosk over the next three years in partnership with the American Heart Association.

Source: https://www.radioiowa.com/2020/01/28/new-kiosk-in-central-iowa-mall-teaches-cpr/

 

fire dept cpr

It Took Over an Hour, but Northwest Fire Crew Saved Woman’s Life by Performing CPR

Amanda Burgos is getting a second chance at life thanks to a Northwest Fire crew.

On Dec. 17, Amanda was in the waiting room at an urgent care clinic when she went into cardiac arrest.

An employee there started CPR on the 62-year-old woman before Northwest Fire arrived.

Burgos says she remembers her name being called several times by paramedics, but that’s it.

A whole team from Northwest Fire Stations 34 and 39 performed CPR on Burgos for more than an hour.

Paramedic Matt Storms, Captain Eddie Croy, Paramedic Don Patch, Firefighter Brandon Marchello, Firefighter Chris Underwood and Battalion Chief Dave Resnick were able to meet Burgos in person on Monday. They told KGUN9 it’s not very often they get to be part of this kind of a success story.

“It’s hard to put words to this kind of event,” Storms said.

Burgos wanted to thank the crew in person for their life-saving efforts. She’s been doing physical therapy at Encompass Health Rehabilitation on the northwest side, and will soon be returning home to stay with family.

“I feel so thankful for this opportunity of life,” Burgos told Northwest Fire.

Northwest Fire also wants to emphasize the importance of learning CPR. They say that increases the chances of survival for a person having a medical emergency.

Article Source: https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/northwest-fire-crew-performs-cpr-on-woman-for-more-than-an-hour-saves-her-life