12-05-2025
Local organization working to increase accessibility of CPR training, AEDs
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Michael Taylor Monk was playing basketball when his heart suddenly stopped, but his gym did not have an AED.
Monk's friends gave him CPR until EMS arrived and were able to restart his heart.
They saved his life, and now Monk is an advocate for the Compress and Shock Foundation, a physician-led organization dedicated to providing free CPR and AED education.
'We just want to save as many lives as possible,' said Monk. 'I mean, I feel like personally within myself, I owe it to any and all victims that I can possibly save in the future because somebody knew what to do when it happened to me. I want the next person to have that same opportunity.'
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Sudden cardiac arrest happens when there is a sudden loss of all heart activity.
It often leads to death without immediate CPR and electric shocks from an AED.
The current survival rate from sudden cardiac arrest is less than 10 percent.
'Most of the news that we deliver in cardiac arrest is bad news,' said Dr. Jack Perkins, Executive Director of the Compress and Shock Foundation. 'And I'm always thinking, what could have been?'
That is why the Compress and Shock foundation is trying to prepare people for what to do in these life-and-death situations.
'Almost uniformly, that person has not received CPR before paramedics get there, and nobody has put an AED on them,' said Perkins. 'That story could be exactly like [Monk's], had bystanders intervened.'
The goal is to get AEDs in public places, especially in underserved communities, in addition to CPR training.
'We are going to have more stories like [Monk's], with not only CPR training, but more people thinking about, 'Why don't I have a defibrillator in my place of business? Why not in my home?'
The Compress and Shock foundation is holding public training in several locations in our area on Saturday, June 7.
You can sign up for the free training or get more information at the foundation's website.
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