September 30, 2004

Middle-schoolers learn life-saving technique

       Seventh-grader Haley Clevenger has never seen someone experience a heart attack. She’s never had to perform CPR to save the life of a heart-attack victim or use the Heimlich maneuver to stop someone from choking.  But by the end of the week, she and her classmates at Center Grove Middle School North will know how to perform both procedures.

          For the first time, White River Township firefighters are teaching seventh-graders at the middle school how to respond to life-threatening situations where they might be called on to perform CPR or the Heimlich. About 260 seventh-graders and 300 eighth-graders will receive training by the end of the school year, said Carla Slaughter, the middle school’s nurse.  The middle school will adopt the training as part of its seventh-grade health class curriculum beginning next fall, Slaughter said.  Because the school didn’t offer CPR training to last year’s seventh-grade class, this year’s eighth-graders will take the training session during the spring semester, she said.  Students receive 3½ hours of training in a four-day period during health class.

        Tuesday was the second day of training for seventh-graders, as four firefighters showed students how to perform CPR on an infant, using plastic test dummies as victims.  The 12- and 13-year-olds then got their chance.  “Did I do OK?” Jerod Johnson, 12, asked after doing a minute-long breathing and heart-resuscitation exercise.  Johnson has never been in a situation in which CPR was necessary, he said, but he is often in situations in that could be potentially dangerous, such as when he baby-sits for a neighbor’s younger children, he said.

        Helping family members and friends during a medical emergency is the key reason for teaching students the procedures, Lt. Jim Engmark of the White River Township Fire Department said.  “Many of these kids have younger brothers and sisters that they’re around every day,” said Engmark, who helped assist in the training Tuesday. “They need to know what to do if an accident happens.”

        Students must take a quiz at the end of the training course to assess what they learned, Slaughter said.  The students are not certified to perform CPR after completing the course, she said, but they do receive a wallet-sized card from the American Heart Association stating the students have taken an introductory CPR class.

        The idea for the CPR/Heimlich training course came from Slaughter and Steve Hacker, the middle school’s athletic director, both said.  Hacker and Slaughter suggested a CPR training course to school officials before the beginning of the school year, when they and other staff members took CPR training.  “Our feeling is, you’re never too young to learn to save someone’s life,” Hacker said. “These kids might not get it down perfectly, but this is a starting point.”  Center Grove Middle School Central, the older of the two middle schools in the district, is not yet offering a CPR/Heimlich lesson in its health classes.  Click HERE to see related story, photos, and video clip.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)
 

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