| Hospitals
sponsor public CPR and AED classes
St. Mary’s and Clearwater Valley Hospitals will each be holding an evening class for the public on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation  and
Automated External Defibrillator education. The CPR and AED class
will be held at Prairie Middle School in Cottonwood on Wednesday, September
22. The same class will be offered on Wednesday, September 29 in
Orofino in the Little Flower Room in St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Brown
and C Street. Both classes are from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
The two hour classes will be taught by Karla Enneking, a certified CPR instructor and staff member in the SMH Cardiac Rehab program. She was an EMT for over 20 years and is a certified CPR instructor. Classes are limited to ten individuals each. Pre registration is necessary. “We will take the contact information for each person that calls. If we have enough interested individuals we will organize a second class in each community,” said Enneking. “We have to limit the number of people so participants learn what they need to know to perform CPR and/or use the AED correctly and with confidence.” Participants will view various segments of a filmed demonstration then replicate those with life size mannequins. A test at the end of class will provide a certification for those that pass. Each participant will also receive an insulated grocery tote containing a refrigerator magnet with the signs and symptoms of a stroke and heart attack, a pedometer, a blood pressure tracking wallet card, a book mark and a brochure on blood pressure and cholesterol and various other items. The classes are free and underwritten by grants from the Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program within the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Those monies were made available to the state through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CVHC and SMHC will also be distributing the refrigerator magnets with the signs and symptoms of strokes and heart attacks to members of service organizations and other groups during the grant year which expires in March, 2011. “Our goal is to reduce the numbers of fatalities and the extent of individual damage caused by strokes and heart attacks by educating people about actions they can take if they are with someone in distress,” said Enneking. “There are AEDs placed almost everywhere these days, but very few people know how to use them properly. We’ll learn that in our classes and also educate others in the community about recognizing a stroke or heart attack, early on, so precious time is not lost before calling 911.” To register for the SMHC Cottonwood class call SMH, 962-3251 or to register for the CVHC Orofino class call CVH, 476-4555. |
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