The week leading up to spring break, John Beerbower, a PE teacher at MCHS Upper Campus, taught a course on CPR certification. The class was held during the students gym period and went all week. At the end of the course, students were able to take a small test to get CPR certified by the American Heart Association.
Only about 40% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests receive bystander CPR, according to CPR selects statistics. It is very important that more people become aware of what to do and how to help someone if it ever happens around them to someone they know or even a complete stranger.
“Taking the CPR training gave me a better understanding of how serious the moment is when someone goes into cardiac arrest,” junior at MCHS Addi Schanes says.
A big part of this course was helping students feel comfortable in that high pressure situation so they can give the best medical help until professionals get there.
“I’d feel brave enough to be able to help anyone no matter their age or gender,” Schanes says.
Throughout the past 12 years of this program being in progress, they have been able to change it and improve it to fit new statistics and conditions that have become more common. They have also added a unit on using the AEDs that are becoming very common in almost all public places like schools, malls and restaurants.
“The quality of the teaching materials from the American Heart Association (AHA) improves with each new edition,” Beerbower says. “Experience in teaching the course countless times over the past 12 also helps to establish best practices to make the course a successful experience for our students.”
As the programs improve and add more things to learn, the instructors also have to keep up with being recertified every two years. This makes sure the students and everyone gets the same good quality and up to date education.
“The reality is that a percentage of them (students in the training program),” Beerbower says, “at some point, could possibly need to provide CPR or need to use an AED.”
While the likelihood of a student, or anyone, would have to put their training skills into use in real life, it’s still a great thing to know. People everyday go into cardiac arrest during their day to day life and having a singular person around who knows simple CPR and/or how to use an AED can be the difference between life and death.