The main goal of the promising new CPR program that has been introduced to the freshmen at Carlmont is to make as many people comfortable with saving lives as possible.
“We want to get the kids to do it to the beat of the song Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees, because it’s 100 beats per minute,” said Dr. Karen Li.
If an individual stops breathing, his or her heart stops beating. He or she can survive between four and six minutes before experiencing brain damage as the result of a lack of oxygen. By artificially circulating oxygen to the brain, CPR gives people a chance to survive.
Participants in this hands-only CPR course do not earn certifications, but they do learn skills that could save lives in a very efficient manor.
The three parts of the 40 minute class are learning how to do compressions on the mannequins, how to use an automatic external defibrillator, and how to help a person who is choking.
As the students performed compressions on their mannequins based on the instructions of the video, Li also said: “Our goal is not only to train our entire high school district, but the county and beyond. It would be nice to teach high school students even beyond the borders of our high school district.”
This program is a big collaboration between a variety of community members such as fire fighters and people from Sequoia hospital.
The students were very attentive, but according to Alex Wildman, “The video was silly at times; it was kind of hard to ignore the innuendos (push hard, push fast). We are all a little immature.”
This program has been created by the community to save lives within the community and will hopefully have excellent results.
