On Monday, Feb. 22, EMTs, Paramedics and CPR coordinators taught Academy of Heath Science students “Hands only CPR.”
The American Heart Association started”Hands only CPR” that teaches people the importance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and how ordinary people can do it on their own. Mayor Buddy Dyer has endorsed the program, aiming to make Orlando the safest city in America.
“Our big thing is explaining to people this isn’t a 4-hour certification course, this is a 30-minute class, we teach you how to push in the chest, we teach to push hard and fast,” coordinator Tracie Ryan said. “Our goal is, prior to graduation, every student knows how to do CPR and learns for free. That’s what we are teaching today.”
Ryan, Paramedic Mike McGurk, and EMT Daniel Wade taught the basics and importance of CPR to the Health Academy classes.
“We want them to take it home and talk to their families about it,” McGurk said. “It’s a simple program. We just want them to pay it forward, that’s what it’s all about. It’s about spreading awareness.”
Both McGurk and Wade demonstrated how to perform “Hands only CPR” on two dummies. They also demonstrated how to use an automated external defibrillator, or an AED, which treats victims of cardiac arrest with defibrillation, which allows the heart to regain a steady beat. The students were able to practice CPR on the dummies and use the AED.
“CPR is a great thing to know. You need to do it in case anyone needs help,” sophomore Jewel Metts-Byrd said. “This lesson today bettered my understanding of CPR and when to do it. I am now able to save someone’s life if I need to.”
Along with the program, Ryan had the students download Pulsepoint, a smartphone app, that notifies a user if someone within 400 feet of them goes into cardiac arrest.
“If all 200 kids have downloaded the Pulsepoint app and all these healthcare kids are around, if someone has a cardiac arrest on this campus, there should be no reason that help shouldn’t be given,” Ryan said.
Ryan and her team have trained over 30,000 people in CPR and they have no intention of stopping until they reach Mayor Dyer’s goal of Orlando being the safest city in America.
“Every minute after someone goes into cardiac arrest, it’s a 10 percent decline in mortality. Knowing CPR and recognizing when to use it, increases that person’s chance of living extensively,” Wade said. ”CPR is the difference between life and death. It’s the only thing that’s going to save someone’s life in a sudden cardiac arrest.”