CPR classes: Palm Beach Gardens residents look to Fire Rescue to teach them how to save lives
Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue teamed up with Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center for their monthly CPR training class Tuesday night, and, as is often the case, the room was full.
The class began with some statistics, including this one: 70% of cardiac arrests happen in the home.
“People know that, and they will often say that when they come: I want to make sure I know this for my loved ones,” said Casey Cline, community risk educator for Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue and one of the instructors in the class.
Chandrima Powers said she almost lost her husband recently.
“I felt very helpless. What do I do? How do I help him?” she said. “I wished that I knew CPR.”
“I do know somebody that almost drowned, and they were saved by CPR,” said Alivia Murgio.
Instructors told the students to first make sure the person is in cardiac arrest. Shake them and call their name to see if they respond.
Once it’s clear they need help, tell someone to call 911 and look for a portable defibrillator and start CPR.
That lesson led to another statistic.
“Patients of cardiac arrest that walk out of the hospital neurologically intact, 100% of them received bystander CPR,” Cline said.
The people in the classroom Tuesday night said they were preparing in case they needed to be that bystander.
“If I can ever be of assistance, I’d like to have some foundation to go with,” said Gandhi Lora.
“In the event of a crisis or something, to know that I can potentially help somebody or get their heart started again,” said Hadley Terrana.
Once instructors talked students through the process and showed them how it’s done, they started the music, and the students took their turn.
The music is "Staying Alive" by the BeeGees, and if someone follows the beat, they will give 100-120 compressions each minute.
It’s far more exhausting than many people expect, and instructors told them it’s OK to take a short break if needed.
They said the only other times it’s OK to stop is if the patient wakes up, paramedics arrive, or if someone has found that defibrillator.
They also gave a lesson on how to use the defibrillator to shock a patient’s heart.
The overriding lesson of the class was when in doubt, do something. Because doing something is better than doing nothing.
“The importance of people knowing this skill, we can’t overstate it,” Cline said.
A schedule of future CPR classes can be found on Fire Rescue’s website.