Life-saving training tools now in the hands of Bermudian Springs Middle School students

From left to right: Theresa McBride, school engagement director, American Heart Association; Tony Duffy, development director, American Heart Association; Julie Nelson, school nurse, Bermudian Springs Middle School; Jennifer Shelley, principal, Bermudian Springs Middle School; Nancy Martindell, president and chief executive officer, JMA Resources; and Kristin Crager, vice president of talent acquisition, JMA Resources.

CPR, especially if performed immediately, could double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival[1]. However, 70% of respondents in a recent consumer survey said they were not confident they would respond with CPR in a cardiac emergency.

That is why the American Heart Association, the worldwide leader in resuscitation science and education, along with Capital Region Go Red for Women sponsor, JMA Resources, recently presented a CPR in Schools Training Kit to Bermudian Springs Middle School in York County, Pennsylvania. The CPR in Schools Training Kit contains everything needed to facilitate CPR, AED and first aid training for hundreds of students including video-based instruction, inflatable practice manikins and an AED training simulator.

“Currently 90 percent of people who experience a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital die, but we want to double the survival rate of cardiac arrest and one of the ways we can achieve that is ensuring more people feel confident to take action,” said Tony Duffy, development director for the American Heart Association. “Children as young as 9-years-old can learn CPR. That’s why it’s important to put these life-saving skills into the hands of more students across the region.”

The goal of the American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers initiative is to turn bystanders into lifesavers, so that in the time of cardiac emergency anyone, anywhere is prepared and empowered to become a vital link in the chain of survival and provide CPR. Every year in the United States, there are more than 23,000 youth who experience a cardiac emergency outside of a hospital and almost 40 percent of those are sports-related.

Quick, simple and easy-to-learn, Hands-Only CPR has been shown to be as effective in the first few minutes as conventional CPR for cardiac arrest at home, at work or in public[2].

For more information about CPR training, visit cpr.heart.org.


[1] https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001052?utm_campaign=2023stat-update&utm_source=heart&utm_medium=link&utm_content=statshome

[2] https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001052?utm_campaign=2023stat-update&utm_source=heart&utm_medium=link&utm_content=statshome

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