Emergency Department Nurse Manager Chris Rice is calling in reinforcements to help with Valley View Medical Center's centennial campaign to have 1,000 people certify or recertify this year in CPR and the Heimlich maneuver.
The first to respond is an ACTAR 911 Squadron, a set of 10 mannequins that will be used for CPR training this year in the community and at Valley View, an Intermountain Health Care facility.VVMC's centennial goal is the brainchild of the hospital's Community Relations Committee, led by board of trustee member Trudie Terry.
"We want to celebrate Utah's birthday and promote wellness with a project that's within the reach of everyday citizens," Terry said. "It's not hard to learn CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, and they're skills that turn everyday citizens into unlikely heroes all the time."
The ambitious project got under way earlier this year with a $1,000 donation from the Southern Utah Foundation that was used to purchase the first ACTAR 911 squadron.
Additional sets of mannequins will be needed, Rice said, to handle the added CPR classes offered by the hospital this year.
Several Cedar City restaurants will add to the equipment fund by contributing a portion of their Valentine's Day sales to the project.
"What better day to focus on saving lives than on the day we make an effort to tell our families we love them," project chair Joye Corry said.
Adrianna's, Boomer's, Brad's Food Hut, Golden Corral, Hermie's, La Fiesta, McDonald's, Milt's, Rusty's Ranch House, Shoney's and Wendy's have all agreed to participate.
Valley View has a few training mannequins, but not nearly enough to handle the demands of the centennial project. CPR classes operate on a ratio of six students per instructor. It takes about four hours to complete the certified program for new trainees and an hour or two to recertify.
"You never know when you might need it," Rice said. "You never know when you could be in a position to save someone's life."
Certified trainers teach the American Heart Association CPR course, which is open to people of all ages.
CPR or cardiopulmonary resuscitation is used to sustain life after an individual's heart or breathing has suddenly stopped. Heart attack is the most common form of "sudden death," along with electric shock, drowning, drug overdose, suffocation, trauma and severe allergic reactions.
The Heimlich maneuver is used when someone has an obstructed airway. Choking is most likely to occur during eating but can be caused by any foreign object, especially when swallowed by children.
Individuals and organizations interested in CPR training for their families and employees can call 586-6587 to set a time. Recertification is the focus of VVMC's regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Feb. 27.