February is American Heart Month. In recognition, JoAnn Parker, American Heart Association director for the Hudson Valley Tri-County, offered a hands-only CPR demonstration to 110 Storm King Students and faculty last week.
The demonstration was made possible by Ray Sharo, the boys’ soccer coach and a leadership team member for the American Heart Association.
Following dinner, on Feb. 8, the students and staff gathered, for about an hour, in the Walter Reade, Jr. Theatre for the demonstration.
Parker, along with volunteers from America’s Lifesaver, in Chester, offered a quick lesson, then invited their audience to practice on one of the 16 dummies provided.
Parker said that, as the leading educators on CPR, the American Heart Association has determined through its research that if people learn just two steps, they can double or triple the survival rate from a cardiovascular event. She said 359,000 people die every year from heart-related ailments. Seventy percent of these events happen away from hospitals.
The first step is to call 911. The second step is to begin CPR by conducting chest compressions to keep blood flowing throughout the body. Parker said mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is only taught for certification purposes.
To apply compressions, one needs only to place their hands on the center of the chest between the ribs. The goal is to do 100 compressions (or beats) per minute, hard and fast, approximately two inches in depth. To keep the proper rhythm, many different songs can be sung, but the American Heart Association continues to use the tried and true “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees.
Many students were concerned about applying compressions too hard and cracking a rib, but Parker assured them the odds are they likely will break a bone.
“Survivors will tell you, they recover from that,” said Parker.
After the demonstration, the students felt confident in their ability to keep a patient alive until emergency medical personnel arrived.
One student, David Lu, got up and spoke, wishing he had been home to help a friend who recently died from a cardiovascular event. Unfortunately, nobody performed CPR to keep him alive.
