By Bill Carey
EMS1
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — For the second year, the Seminole County Fire Department trained nearly 500 high schoolers at Winter Springs High School in hands-only CPR over two days.
Florida House Bill 157 mandates basic first aid and CPR training for all 9th and 11th-grade students, according to a statement from the department.
“Having our local firefighters come interact with the students and teach hands-only CPR has been extremely beneficial and engaging for our students,” Winter Springs High School Principal Pete Gaffney said. “Not only do our students learn a lifesaving skill, but they interact with positive role models who serve our community.”
The Save-A-Life Seminole program teaches hands-only CPR, which is equally effective as conventional CPR for teens and adults during cardiac arrest at home, work or in public. Students also learned the importance of locating an AED.
“We stress to students that first responders need their help before we arrive on the scene,” Lieutenant Joshua Marzolf said. “Time is tissue and every second matters. We encourage them to do CPR and the only bad CPR is no CPR at all.”
