Last year, Morgan Introduced the CPR training course to the students enrolled in Health 2. Assistant Superintendent Marco Famiglietti decided this would help keep our school community safe. Health teachers Rachel Lupone, Kate Iverson, and Peter Gersz took an intense course last June to become certified CPR instructors. Becoming certified in CPR benefits the students, and even staff, in many ways. They could use this certification in their jobs, babysitting, camp counseling, and even just hanging out with friends. CPR could save somebody’s life.

The instructors report that half of the students, qualifying for this certification, will pay the $36 fee to get official certification from the American Red Cross. This course, part of the grade 10, 11 required health class takes about a week of classtime. Even though there is a 36 dollar fee to get officially certified, that 36 dollars could potentially make a student the hero in someone’s live. Why not take it?

The Red Cross instructor certification came with teaching kits for the students. Students have their own sanity kits. There are several manikins to practice hands-on with, and students also get to practice with a fake AED. There are sets of adult manikins and a set of infant manikins. We are taught in class with videos from Red Cross, in addition to our Red Cross-certified teachers.

According to American Heart Association, “CPR is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is unconscious.” Emergencies are inevitable. Something bad could happen at any time. Having this certification could minimize panic. Keep in mind that you can get CPR certified anywhere at any time, but having this addition available to the Morgan School is huge.