Schools

Central expands CPR/AED training to all schools

Posted

All 1,360 Calhoun High School students are now receiving potentially life-saving training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and use of the automated external defibrillator. By the end of the school year, all 5,562 students in the Bellmore-Merrick Central School District will be trained.

That’s thanks to a grant by Forever 9: The Robbie Levine Foundation, the Merrick-based nonprofit organization started by Jill and Craig Levine after the 2005 death of their 9-year-old son, Robbie, who collapsed and died shortly after rounding the bases during a Little League practice. The group raises funds to purchase AEDs for schools and youth organizations. The Robbie’s Run 5K, held annually in April, typically attracts more than 1,400 runners and raises tens of thousands of dollars for the cause.

Forever 9 began funding CPR/AED training at Merrick Avenue Middle School two years ago and expanded the program to include Grand Avenue Middle School the next year. Now the organization is taking the program district-wide, offering it at Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham high schools, in addition to the middle schools.

Students receive training during their phys. ed. classes. Forever 9 purchased all equipment, including mannequins, to conduct the training, as well as paid to have phys. ed. teachers certified as CPR/AED instructors.

Hereafter, students will receive the training every two years “so it stays fresh,” said Saul Lerner, the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School director of health, phys. ed. and athletics.

June Spruyt, Calhoun’s athletics coordinator who is also a phys. ed. teacher, conducted a CPR/AED class with fellow phys. ed. teacher Art Canestro on Nov. 6. “It means a whole lot for the students to be in a situation and know how to react,” Spruyt said.

Spruyt and Canestro began by showing a video that featured young people who had saved the lives of family members with CPR. Spruyt noted that there’s a 75 percent chance that a person suffering from heart failure will die unless CPR is administered immediately. “The likelihood of living goes up tremendously if you know how to respond,” she noted. After the film came the hands-on part of the lesson, for which students practiced CPR on specially designed mannequins.

“It’s all about them feeling comfortable about responding,” said Gregg Muscarella, another phys. ed teacher. “

Students reacted positively to the lesson. “It’s perfect we’re doing this,” said 10th-grader Cole Haile. “I have the skills needed if the situation requires it. It’s awesome.”

Senior Steven Timberman said, “I think this a great thing. It’s always best to be safe. This is all new to me, and I think they did a great job teaching it.”