Students learn CPR during American Heart Month
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – February is American Heart Month, and future EMTs in Springfield learned the important skill of CPR on Wednesday.
EMTs told 22News that it can help them save lives when good Samaritans know CPR. In honor of American Heart Month, students in the Earn While You Learn program at American Medical Response were learning a life saving skill, CPR.
Springfield fire crews put out house fire on Belmont Avenue
CPR protocol is sets of 30 compressions, and with the most recent studies, mouth-to-mouth is no longer recommended. One student, Denzel Agyeman, already knew CPR from a previous job at a summer camp. He knew to clear the scene and check to see if person is responsive, before starting chest compressions.
'Just because you haven't gone to school for it doesn't mean you don't have the ability to do it on your own,' Agyeman said.
EMTs are called to help when there is a medical emergency, but they sometimes rely on the help of nearby civilians while they are on their way, especially when it comes to CPR.
'They start as soon as they call in, and our dispatch center will start to coach them on how to do CPR,' said Earn While You Learn lead instructor Jason Melendez. 'So that when we get there, they're usually walking out of the hospital with little to no deficit.'
CPR is a skill you never know when or where you will need. The EMTs said over 88% of cardiac arrests happen at home.
'It doesn't just happen on the street, right, it can happen at home,' Melendez said. 'The last thing you wanna do is wait for us to get there and know that you could've changed their outcome. They might just save their own family or somebody else's family and not know it.'
CPR can look different for adults, children and babies, but whether you work in the medical field or not, you may have the ability to help save someone's life.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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