June 2006 Ulster BOCES Students Earn CPR/AED Certification A group of 17 very proud students enrolled in the Ulster BOCES Special Education program gathered at the Ulster County American Red Cross building in Kingston recently to receive certification for successfully completing American Red Cross CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and AED (automated external defibrillator) courses. The students were from middle schools and high schools in Ulster, Dutchess, and Orange Counties.
“I’m very pleased that you all are here,” said Susan Rounds, executive director of the Ulster County American Red Cross, as she welcomed the students. “I want to congratulate all of you. I’ve taken these classes and I know they’re not easy to pass.”
According to the American Red Cross, more than 200,000 Americans die each year from sudden cardiac arrest. Different from a heart attack, the condition makes the heart abruptly stop, causing people to collapse and quickly lose consciousness. The most effective way to revive them is with CPR and an AED – and the quicker the response, the greater the chance of survival.
“The students worked very hard,” said Roy Speedling, Ulster BOCES physical education and health teacher, and one of the CPR/AED certified instructors who worked with the students. The courses are interactive, the teacher explained, using hands-on practice scenarios with life-size manikins and instructional videos that reflect a variety of situations. “They’ve read the manual, watched the videos, and practiced, practiced, practiced,” he said. “It’s all very basic, but invaluable knowledge, for the students, for anyone, to know if there’s a medical emergency. Simply take the defibrillator off the wall and follow its prompts. It’s something everyone should know.”
The AED is easy to operate, according to Speedling. “It’s about the size of a laptop computer and uses voice prompts to guide the rescuer,” he explained. The device analyzes the heart’s rhythm for any abnormalities and, if necessary, directs the rescuer to deliver an electrical shock to the victim. This shock, called defibrillation, may help the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm of its own. AEDs are becoming more and more available in shopping malls, airports, schools, and other places where large groups of people gather and the risk of a sudden cardiac arrest incident is more likely.
This is the first year the courses have been offered to Ulster BOCES special education students. “It was an ambitious undertaking, but we’ve had strong support from Marlene Anderson-Butler (Ulster BOCES director of Special and Alternative Education) and Barbara Zolnowski (supervisor of Ulster BOCES Special Education at Highland),” Speedling said. “We couldn’t have done it without their support.”
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