CHRISTOPHER DACANAY
STAFF WRITER
Franciscan University of Steubenville is a bit safer thanks to the How to Save a Life in 10 Minutes learning session Nov. 20 in the J.C. Williams Center.
Beginning at noon and lasting until 3 p.m., the How to Save a Life session transformed the International Lounge of the J.C. into a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training area. During that time, several instructors stood ready and willing to give one-on-one training to curious passersby.
Students willing to learn were taught the process of CPR in its entirety, typically in 10 minutes or less. The lightning–fast, yet comprehensive, lesson explained chest compressions, mouth-to-mouth and automated external defibrillator (AED) use.
Tools for the training sessions included eight adult-sized and four child-sized CPR dummies. The variance in size is crucial due to adult and child CPR being vastly different.
In addition, instructors made use of prop AED’s, demonstrating how and when to use an AED in a real-life emergency. The props provided their own pre-recorded instructions just like the actual version would.
Music echoed throughout the room, providing listeners with the beat to which CPR chest compressions are meant to be administered. Some of the songs, all within the 100-120 beats-per-minute range, included “Cecilia” by Simon and Garfunkel and “Dancing Queen” by ABBA.
The event was organized as a Center for Leadership senior capstone project by senior nursing majors Patricia Villegas and Katie Greiner. Villegas, who along with Greiner recently became a certified CPR instructor, stated that their desire was to promote knowledge of emergency response.
“We just wanted to educate as many people as we can to help save lives because the more educated people are, the higher chance people have to save a life in an emergency,” Villegas said.
“It’s really easy to learn CPR,” said Villegas. “You actually can learn it in between five and 10 minutes. That’s our selling point: that you can learn to save a life in less than 10 minutes if we give you the right skills to do it.”
Sophomore Juliet Sidone was among those who took a 10-minute lesson. Sidone said, “It was great. In high school, I learned how to do (CPR) in a class, … but it was cool just to do it again. Apparently, I was the best (participant) of the day.”
The event was sponsored by the Franciscan University nursing department, which also provided the equipment.