Twenty More Newtowners Take The CPR Challenge

By Andy Hutchison

You do not have to be a paramedic to save the life of someone whose heart has stopped beating. In fact, you do not even have to be certified in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to provide this simple and life-sustaining first aid in the event of a cardiovascular emergency.

Twenty residents completed a training session in CPR basics at The Fitness Loft on Saturday morning as part of The Hearts For Harmon CPR Challenge — and equipped themselves with the skills to respond if a friend, family member (or complete stranger for that matter) is in need of resuscitation.

They learned the basics of CPR: how many compressions to make on the person’s chest, how far to push the chest, how many breaths to give, etc … and walked away with the knowledge of what to do should they be faced with such a daunting scenario.

Laurie Veillette of Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Rescue Ropes LLC, a Newtown-based health and fire safety education firm, presented the approximately one-hour session with the help of fellow Volunteer Ambulance Corps member Liz Cain. All attendees made a $10 donation to the American Heart Association and went home with a how-to DVD and training device know as the “CPR Anytime” system.

All participants to this CPR Challenge and a similar training session in March also made a pledge to train ten or more people by using their own CPR Anytime kit.

The ongoing challenge is being conducted in memory of late Newtown Bee Sports Editor Kim Harmon who died of a heart attack in December 2007, with a goal of exposing 1,000 or more people to CPR in the coming year.

In the case of an emergency, the first thing to do, those in attendance learned, is to check for breathing. If it is determined the person is not breathing, the next thing attendees were instructed to do is tell someone to call 911. Or if nobody else is around, participants were told to call for help themselves before beginning CPR.

“If someone’s not breathing, it’s not long before their heart goes,” Ms Veillette said.

First, the person should be given two breaths.

Attendees learned the importance of pinching the person’s nose closed when giving two breaths so the air does not simply go right out of their nostrils. Following two breaths, 30 compressions are given with both hands, fingers interlocked with the heel of the bottom hand pressing on the center of the chest. Compressions should be 1½ to 2 inches and at a consistent beat every second or faster, or 60–80 beats a minute, Veillette said.

“You’re going to be pushing down at the speed of the heart rate — which is very fast,” Veillette told the participants before they practiced giving compressions on their training dummies.

In the case of children, compressions should be roughly one-third to one-half the depth of the child’s body. In the case of bigger adults, a person attempting to save a life will have to push down harder. Regardless of age and size, the two breaths, 30 compressions cycle remains consistent. The compressions pump blood though the body and the breaths breathe air into the lungs of the person.

Attendees got a feel for the proper techniques through use of a pressure clicker on the training dummies, which can be set for adult or child CPR training.

Following the compressions, give two more breaths … the process is repeated until someone else can take over or — best case scenario — the person begins breathing again.

“You don’t stop until other help arrives,” Ms Veillette said.

The program is intended to educate people on the basics of CPR and encourage them to go for full training. Although the CPR Anytime system provides all the appropriate information for a basic lesson in CPR, any attempt at resuscitation is better than none, Ms Veillette noted.

The Hearts for Harmon CPR Challenge continued at Newtown Savings Bank, underwriter for the challenge, for bank staff members Tuesday afternoon. For more information, contact John Voket, event organizer and longtime friend and coworker of Mr Harmon at The Bee. Mr Voket, associate editor at The Bee, may be reached at 203-509-2246 or john@thebee.com.