SUMTER, S.C. — Teachers in Sumter are learning to save lives. It’s part of an initiative by the American Heart Association (AHA) to get at least one person in every household familiar with hands-only CPR.
“I thought it was great,” Luther Barnett, an English teacher at Sumter High, shared about the training. “I think it's very informative. And obviously, it's very important for us, as adults and teachers to encourage our kids to be aware of CPR.”
About 30 educators took turns practicing the live-saving technique on mannequins.
“I thought it was a little more challenging than I expected. But you know, if I have the Bee Gee's playing along, I'll be alright,” Barnett said, referring to the popular song that the AHA played to keep the rhythm.
Kenneth Mims with Assured Partners sponsored the event, where teachers sat through the training, led by the American Heart Association.
“That's 30 more people here in town that know CPR,” Mims said, referring to the few dozen that used the mannequins. “They can share and spread it and hopefully, hopefully don't have to, but if they need to, are able to use it.”
Other educators sat by and listened to the training before watching the practice.
“We want to take a nation of bystanders and turn them into a nation of lifesavers,” AHA Sumter Clarendon Heart Walk Director of Development Christina Darby shared.
Darby says she hopes this training will create a ripple effect in the area.
“You have those folks who panic, but we feel like if we train them and they know exactly what to do, then they'll just immediately go right into something that you know of course, we don't want them to have to do,” Darby detailed. “But at least they have the training and they know how to do it and then you know, with hands only CPR that doubles and triples your chance at survival.”
AHA of the Midlands and PeeDee Community Impact Director Alfonso Franco helped lead the training.
“If a person gets any type of CPR assistance, the likelihood that they survive will be 90%. But we're also trying to focus on not just survival, but also quality of life,” Franco shared.
Franco says starting CPR as soon as possible can help.
“You have to do it until the EMS arrives,” Franco explained. “And in most places, it can take up to seven to 10 minutes. In some rural areas, it might take longer. So doing the compressions for that long can be difficult. So that's what we're trying to show them also with the hands-only CPR.”
Calling 9-1-1 is a crucial step in the life-saving process, he says. This is education that Sumter High Principal Anamaria Sandor says she’s glad to bring to the school
“A colleague can save a colleague's life,” Sandor said. “That student who got saved may save his mother's life or his grandmother's life. So it is an important thing to have everybody kind of understand what you can do to save a life in need.”
The AHA says today was stage one of the project. Next up, it says 30 students at the school will be trained and the education will spread from there.
The AHA Sumter Clarendon Heart Walk is coming up on May 11.
“It is our signature event,” Darby explained. “We have lots of folks that come out: heart survivors, moms, dads, children, pets — of course on a leash,” Darby said. “And so every year we come together somewhere in the Sumter community and have a walk that includes all of Sumter County, Clarendon County and the parts of Lee County as well.”
The American Heart Association has also donated these CPR kits to Lakewood High School. This year, as the American Heart Association celebrates their 100th birthday, the theme of American Heart Month is focused on creating a Nation of Lifesavers, empowering everyone to know the lifesaving skills of CPR.
"With more than 350,0000 people experiencing cardiac arrests outside of a hospital, including 23,000 children, CPR is a critical skill that kids as young as 9 years old can learn," AHA sent out in a statement. "The multi-year Nation of Lifesavers initiative will ensure teens and adults can learn about CPR and AED use, share that knowledge with friends and family and engage employers, policymakers, philanthropists, and others to create support for a nation of lifesavers."
With populations of over 1,080 students at Lakewood High School and over 2,300 at Sumter High School, according to AHA, this project has "the potential to impact thousands of students and families for generations to come."