{"id":19257,"date":"2023-01-25T01:49:35","date_gmt":"2023-01-25T01:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=19257"},"modified":"2023-01-24T20:57:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T20:57:57","slug":"demand-for-cpr-classes-soars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/25\/demand-for-cpr-classes-soars\/","title":{"rendered":"Demand For CPR Classes Soars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local fire department responds<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By WRW STAFF<\/p>\n

January has been an unprecedented month for interest in learning CPR in the Wood River Valley. Keller Gibson, fire inspector and public education coordinator for the Ketchum Fire Department, said the demand for classes is higher than she has ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have always offered CPR certification classes to people who need to learn it for specific jobs, like day care or government workers,\u201d Keller explained. \u201cThat number is pretty static, as many jobs require recertification every two years.\u201d What is new, however, is the number of people in the county who work outside jobs that are the \u2018usual suspects\u2019 who are seeking both the more structured certification courses and basic community courses. Gibson said lately she has had \u201cwhat feels like every building job foreman in the Valley,\u201d as well as many builders coming in for CPR and stop-the-bleed training in addition to just everyday citizens who may have a new baby, an aging parent or spouse, or an active lifestyle that takes them away from access to quick medical care.<\/p>\n

Gibson has seen an interesting growth trend with members of the outdoor community. \u201cPeople who backcountry ski and recreate in the mountains have been signing up for classes,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have done avalanche training and realize that it makes sense to follow up with CPR training. Once you\u2019ve dug someone out, you may have to help rescue them in additional ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much recent interest, Gibson said, can also be attributed to one person: Damar Hamlin. When the young, super-fit Buffalo Bills defensive back collapsed on the field in cardiac arrest during a game on January 2, people took notice. Maureen Brown, an active and avid skier and pickleball player, signed up for a community class this month, and heard many of her fellow attendees cite Hamlin\u2019s terrifying collapse as the main reason they wanted to acquire a solid understanding of how to administer CPR.\u00a0 <\/span>Gibson concurred, \u201cThe incident at the Buffalo Bills game sparked a lot of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s decision to attend a 1.5-hour community class at the Ketchum Fire Department was not based on this incident, however, but another frightening episode that happened while she was in the desert in November to play pickleball. \u201cThe place we play is very busy with a lot of courts. One day we were there, and we hear screaming and yelling and people calling for a doctor,\u201d Brown recalled. \u201cEveryone had gathered around a man who had been watching his wife play and fell out of his chair. He didn\u2019t have a pulse. Thankfully a nurse was also playing nearby, and she started aggressive CPR on him.\u201d Brown said she was shocked by her inability to assist in any way and was determined to not be the person waiting for the EMT to arrive. When she saw the listing for free CPR classes in the City of Ketchum newsletter, she phoned, signed up for a spot, and got the training soon thereafter.<\/p>\n

What surprised Brown most about CPR, and another reason she recommends as many people as possible learn the skill, is just how exhausting it is to perform. \u201cYou have to have someone show you how to do it effectively, and ideally you need someone to switch off with to have a break,\u201d Brown said. \u201cMy takeaway is how important it is, if you\u2019re doing it, even if you stop for five seconds, you can undo the work you did. It\u2019s very physical. I had taken a CPR class a long time ago and the memory definitely came back but I needed the refresher since things change.\u201d She said it was a great experience and Gibson was very knowledgeable.<\/p>\n

Gibson agreed that the science does change and that the training many people may have gotten years ago is now outdated. One major change is that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is now optional and not taught as part of basic, life-saving CPR. Brown said this change made her more comfortable with jumping in to help someone, a reaction Gibson said many people have.<\/p>\n

Brown said after the course she feels much more confident of her ability to help in an emergency. She also appreciated that basic Heimlich maneuver information was also included in the course. \u201cI left thinking if something happens, I\u2019m going to be calm, confident, and maybe save someone\u2019s life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Brown is one of many Valley denizens who should be feeling more confident and ready to help after training. The community classes offered by the Ketchum Fire Department have proved wildly popular and Gibson said by the end of January, she estimates she will have taught 100 people CPR.<\/p>\n

The fire department also continues to offer the more formalized certification classes in addition to community classes. The American Heart Association Heart Saver course is a three-hour class where attendees must hit certain benchmarks and show proficiency. These classes are smaller and more personalized, but again, they are free aside from the cost of the Heart Saver class card, which is about $25.<\/p>\n

Gibson said in her position of public education coordinator for the fire department she is so glad to see the interest in these classes. \u201cDuring Covid, it was really hard as St. Luke\u2019s had to stop doing classes and there was a real need building up,\u201d she said. And she has no plans to stop teaching life-saving classes anytime soon. \u201cI am putting dates on the calendar right now for next month and they will be posted in both the Ketchum city newsletter and online on their website,\u201d she explained. \u201cThese classes really are open to everyone; anyone is welcome. And if you can\u2019t come when a class is scheduled, I can make a class for a minimum of three people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local fire department responds By WRW STAFF January has been an unprecedented month for interest in learning CPR in the Wood River Valley. Keller Gibson, fire inspector and public education coordinator for the Ketchum Fire Department, said the demand for classes is higher than she has ever seen. \u201cWe have always offered CPR certification classes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,76,79,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"category-emergency-services","9":"category-health-news","10":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19264,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19257\/revisions\/19264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}