State passes legislation for CPR, AED certification

Behind the side entrance at the American Red Cross building on Seventh Street is a dark stairwell that leads to a room on the second story. In that room, a class of nearly 10 people is seated in a rectangular arrangement awaiting lessons. Placed on students’ desks are manuals titled “CPR/AED.”\nThis class is the first of a three-evening Standard First Aid with Adult, Infant and Child CPR course that runs Feb. 4-11. The course offers first-aid certification in adult, infant and child cardiopulmonary resuscitation. \nSue Gulley, executive director of the Monroe County chapter of the American Red Cross, said that new legislation passed in the Indiana House and Senate increased the demand for health certification.\n“More and more employers require individuals at the work site to be trained with health and safety skills set to save lives in emergencies,” said Gulley, who also said the people who attend the classes come from all walks of life and have “a desire to be ready to respond in an emergency to save a life.”\nThis course is one in a series of health and safety training courses routinely conducted at the Monroe County chapter of American Red Cross. Other courses offered at the Red Cross include CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer, Bloodborne Pathogens Training and First Aid for Dogs and Cats, according to the Red Cross Web site.\nParticipants in the courses learn many skills, including how to recognize and implement basic procedures in an emergency. Skills such as performing rescue breathing, using an automated external defibrillator to treat cardiac arrest and caring for choking victims are taught to students, according to a Red Cross public service press release.\nSophomore Jonathan Lin, however, intends to enroll in a lifeguard course because the course encompasses the different skills that he wants to learn.\n“These skills are useful to have because you can actually apply them at some point of your life,” Lin said. “I personally feel that it is something valuable.”