By Ross Courtney
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. — Last year, nearly 900 people learned rudimentary cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the first CPR Blitz.
This year, organizers hope to do it again, perhaps topping 1,000 people learning how to save a life.
On Saturday, organizers will hold the second “Save a Life: The Great CPR Blitz” at the Yakima Convention Center.
“I think people thought we were nuts last year,” said Pete Orgill, a 25-year veteran CPR instructor.
The event, which organizers plan to make annual, will offer free lessons in the basics of CPR, the combination of chest compressions and rescue breathing that can keep a heart attack victim alive long enough for medical help to arrive.
The lessons, which come in hourlong sessions at 8 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and a Spanish session at 11 a.m., will focus mostly on the chest compressions, though demonstrators will discuss breathing techniques and defibrillators.
Dr. David Krueger, a cardiologist at the Yakima Heart Center, will speak briefly, while nurses, firefighters and emergency medical responders will help participants. Meanwhile, both Yakima hospitals plan to hold heart-related educational activities leading up to the event.
Participants will not receive certification from the American Heart Association or American Red Cross. The purpose of the class is “just to take away the fear,” said Orgill, a teacher at Davis High School.
Every family or group that attends also will receive a free head and torso mannequin, on the condition they promise to use it to teach five other people CPR. They come with an instructional DVD to help.
Currently, Yakima County is a bad place to have a heart attack, Orgill said. Heart attack patients are 46 percent more likely to die than the rest of the state, according to the American Heart Association.
Orgill and organizers hope to change that. In fact, they have heard anecdotes of last year’s participants using their techniques since.
“We know we made a difference,” Orgill said.
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