<p>I got trained and certified in adult and child CPR and adult and child AED in a class at MIT last night. It was free for current students, and only $5 for alums like me (or other community members). Apparently the usual price is around $60. LauraN was one of the instructors. :)</p>
<p>I found out something that I didn’t know about MIT while I was there. In 2006, it became the first (and still one of very few) HeartSafe community (as designated by the American Heart Association) on a college campus.</p>
<p>HeartSafe communities are determined by access to emergency treatment, level of CPR training, presence of AEDs, and advanced care availability.</p>
<p>Just an interesting fact that I thought I’d throw out!</p>
<p>Basically, a couple of years ago, there was a student named Dale who wanted to start a “Public Access AED” program. So he applied and got a lot of funding, grants, etc and started installing AEDs in boxes all around campus (there are about 20). They’re all wired to alarms, so that if the box is ever opened, the police and EMS are called to the scene. He also started MassCPR (and also organized smaller classes during the year), so that a large percentage of the MIT population could get CPR certified.</p>
<p>Somewhere in there, the American Heart Association granted us the “Heartsafe Community” label, which is actually a huge deal, even if no one who doesn’t work for the AHA has ever heard of it. =)</p>
<p>When Dale graduated, MIT-EMS, which is the campus student-run ambulance service, decided to take over the project. So we maintain all of the AEDs (we have to periodically check that the batteries aren’t dead, etc) and took over the organization of the MassCPR event. As the Community Relations Officer, this responsibility fell to me this year. It was a huge, stressful job, but we certified 123 people on Thursday, so I’d say that’s a success. =)</p>