Mahaska CERT Team Helps Others Potentially Save A Life

Mahaska CERT Captain Jeff Ridenour teaches community members CPR on Saturday at the Mahaska County YMCA.

Mahaska CERT Captain Jeff Ridenour teaches community members CPR on Saturday at the Mahaska County YMCA.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – You walk into a room and find someone laying on the floor. After determining that the person is in need of help, what do you do next?

For a group of individuals who took the American Heart Association CPR class on Saturday, those choices are much clearer now.

According to the American Heart Association, “About 92 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital, but statistics prove that if more people knew CPR, more lives could be saved. Immediate CPR can double, or even triple, a victim’s chance of survival.”

This class was one of several held yearly at the Y. This gives an opportunity for the Y staff and individuals who help in child-care or other service industries to become certified in CPR, or to become re-certified. Individuals in those positions are re-certified once every 2 years.

The first-aid portion of the class covers such things as cuts, burns and environmental emergencies such as heat-stroke and frost-bite. Larger medical issues such as stroke and heart attack are also covered from a general basic first-aid general overview.

The way CPR is performed has changed over time, and a no breath form of CPR has taken hold. This was done to help the person administrating CPR in their effort to keep blood circulating through the body. Other trained first responders may use ventilation efforts such as 2 quick breaths or bagging.

CPR needs to be performed at 100 chest compressions per minute, and can quickly tire a first responder. The song ‘Stayin Alive’ by the Bee Gees and its beat are often used in reference to how many compressions per minute are needed.

Mahaska County Emergency Management helps make the training sessions possible. Members of the Mahaska County CERT team, who are CPR instructors, held the class at the Mahaska County YMCA on Saturday.

One of those instructors is Jeff Ridenour. Ridenour is a captain in the Mahaska County CERT and is a certified AHA CPR instructor.

Ridenour says that each training class runs between 4 to 5 hours, which includes instruction on blood-borne pathogens, first aid, CPR and AED.

Ridenour says that if someone collapses, “check, are they breathing? Are they responding?” If there is no breath and they’re not responding, it may be time to start CPR. “If they are faking by any means, they’re going to be waking up real quick,” says Ridenour on if chest compressions had started.

Ridenour says he hopes the class helps those feel more comfortable and prepared to handle an emergency situation if it should arise.

Mahaska County Emergency Manager Jamey Robinson praised the dedication of the CERT Team members. “Just that I can’t do it without them the time and energy they put into obtaining their instructor and then giving up a weekend to assist goes above and beyond!”

If you or your business is interested in CPR training, you can contact Mahaska County Emergency Manager Jamey Robinson for further information. You can contact Robinson at (641) 672-1209 or by email at jrobinson@mahaskaema.com

Posted by on Jan 5 2015. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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