BATTLE GROUND — Battle Ground is a little safer with all of Chief Umtuch Middle School’s seventh- and eighth-graders now trained in CPR.
Cadets from Fire District 3 taught students how to perform hands-only CPR Monday in the school’s gymnasium, capping off a three-week health and fitness campaign at the school. The school partook in events including the American Heart Association’s annual Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart fundraisers.
Health and fitness teacher Blake Bowers called the CPR lesson, the first of its kind for the middle school, an important feature of the events of the last three weeks.
“In less than two hours, we’re going to have 300 more people to help with CPR and bystander safety,” he said.
Bowers said Monday’s lesson could only happen with a “really good community partnership” with the local fire district.
Fire District 3 Chief Steve Wrightson said this is the first time the fire district has trained students this young.
“Anybody can learn this and do it,” Wrightson said. “They could make a difference.”
With the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” — a song whose tempo of 100-120 beats per minute is the correct speed to perform CPR — blasting over the gym’s speakers, students spread out over the gym to practice CPR on inflated test dummies. The dummies clicked as students pressed on their chests, noting when students had pushed hard enough.
Hal Hughey, 14, is a football player, and said he’s seen his coaches use CPR when fellow players have fallen on the field. Knowing CPR makes him feel more able to help should that happen.
“It’s useful,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of guys fall down on the field.”
Carter Hart, 14, said he thought learning CPR would be handy “every day, just walking around.”
“I think it’s cool to learn,” he said.
Kaelyn White, also 14, was already certified in CPR, but appreciated the refresher course.
“I think it’s important they teach it to the whole school,” White said. “It increases people’s chance of surviving.”
