April 21, 2005

YSHS frosh get hands-on lesson in first aid, CPR

YSHS freshmen Todd Sheets, left, and Kyle Buchwalder practicing CPR last week during an emergency response course led by Miami Township Fire-Rescue.

By Lauren Heaton

The business of saving lives doesn’t so much require a medical degree as acting confidently and calmly under stress, freshmen at Yellow Springs High School learned during an introductory course on first aid and CPR.

Under the tutelage of Miami Township Fire-Rescue personnel, the freshmen health students learned that they are quite capable of administering effective first response aid to stop excess bleeding, stabilize broken bones or even treat someone who may be having a heart attack.

This is the fourth consecutive year the fire department has taught the eight-hour course at YSHS. More than 60 students in three health classes participated in the class this year.

Denny Powell, the assistant fire chief and the department’s education coordinator, and Fire-Rescue staff members spent a total of 24 hours over the last two weeks training the students on emergency response techniques for everything from insect bites to burns and strokes.

“The big thing we’re really trying to do is make them feel comfortable and confident to help someone,” Fire Chief Colin Altman said between classes last Thursday. “With this age group it’s about empowering them to overcome the feeling that they can’t do anything in an emergency situation.”

Using Bob the chest mannequin and the school’s automatic external defibrillator, commonly known as shock paddles, students were able to simulate an emergency response for a person who was found unconscious and not breathing. Students took turns breathing into Bob’s mouth and doing chest compressions before using the AED.

The AED is designed for the lay person to use and comes in a case the size of a child’s lunchbox. As soon as it is opened, a tinny female voice tells the user to call 9-1-1 for help and begin assessing the patient. Following the defibrillator’s directions, the students practiced placing the sticky pads on the mannequin’s chest, yelling clear and shocking Bob back into a regular heart rhythm.

The school’s defibrillator came with the fitness and weight training equipment the school district purchased two years ago and is stored in the gym just outside the YSHS and McKinney School fitness room.

Anyone can use the device, but until a few years ago, Kevin O’Brien and Sarah Lowe, who teach health and physical education, were the only people in the building trained to use it. Since YSHS began including the AED in the first-aid classes last year, O’Brien said, more and more students will have the skills, and more importantly, the confidence to use the device to help anyone in public places where an AED is available.

The Heartsaver First Aid course, which is designed by the American Heart Association, starts out with the general principles of first aid for one’s self and for a victim. From there, the lessons address how to treat someone with medical emergencies such as respiratory trouble, diabetes and heart attacks. Lessons also cover injuries such as internal bleeding, bites, stings and poisoning. The course finishes with hands-on CPR and AED training.

Several years ago, student Ellen Swisher said, she saw a referee pass out from heat exhaustion at a soccer game. She had no formal first-aid training at the time, and didn’t know how to help, she said. The victim received help at a first-aid tent at the game and recovered, but now, Ellen said, she would feel comfortable responding to the emergency herself.

The procedure for most first aid is not hard to follow, she said, but the pressure of having someone else’s life in your hands can be enormous. Students spent part of the class talking about the feelings of fear and guilt that can arise over an unsuccessful rescue attempt, Ellen said.

This year, YSHS purchased 60 Heartsaver textbooks with the help of a $500 grant from the Yellow Springs Endowment of Education. Next year’s freshmen will also need help purchasing textbooks, which cost $13.50 each.

O’Brien also encourages his students to spend $2 at the end of the course to get their first-aid certification, which can help with getting a job life guarding, babysitting or working at summer camp, he said.

It’s an easy course to take, and the procedures are simple to remember, said Altman, who said he bumps into former students every year who tell him they still remember how many breaths to compressions to use for CPR.