CPR - should be mandatory in HS

nysmile
Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:11:55 +0000

At our local public high school, part of the health class curriculum includes mandatory certification in CPR, First Aid, and the use of portable defibrillators. The students can’t graduate until they’ve completed the program. Students also have the option of taking an additional class to learn how to become CPR instructors. These students then help to teach the free CPR workshops offered to the community.

The program has paid off. Many students have had to use these skills to save lives.
One student saved his father’s life when the man had a heart attack while driving with his son in the car. The boy grabbed the wheel, guided the car to the side of the road, and began CPR on his Dad.

Another student used the Heimlick Maneuver to save her younger sister.

Another student came to the rescue of someone (stranger) while he was on a school trip to France. He performed CPR on the man until an ambulance arrived.

Another student performed CPR on his Dad after he found him on the ground is the midst of a massive heart attack.

At a school in the next district, a custodian saved a teacher by using one of the portable defibrillators at the school. Every worker at the school goes through mandatory training in the use of the defibrillators.