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Kelly Wolf of Aberdeen practices resuscitation techniques on an infant-sized dummy during the HeartSaver AED Course taught at Avera St. Luke's Education Center. (American News Photo by Scott Feldman / February 10, 2013) |
Nancy Schuring, a registered nurse and education instructor at Avera St. Luke's, said the first four minutes after someone goes down are the most critical.
If the person receives treatment within those first few minutes, the chance of survival is significantly higher.
Avera is teaching that and other lessons at its HeartSaver AED class at the Avera Education Center on the first Wednesday of every month. The class is designed to teach the average person immediate response techniques, such as basic CPR compression and rebreathing methods, how to respond to airway obstruction and how to use an automated external defibrillator, Schuring said. She has worked at Avera St. Luke's for 32 years.
She has vivid memories of an emergency where she wasn't able to respond in time.
More than a decade ago, Schuring said, she was living in Andover when she received a phone call at night.
“ 'This is Carol. He went down; you have to get here right away.' Then she hung up," Schuring said. "It was terrifying knowing someone was out there, and I didn't know where."
Schuring said she was not given an address or any more information. Because Andover is small, she called her mother-in-law and figured out who had called. But by the time she arrived, more then four minutes had passed.
Schuring said she administered treatment, but the man did not survive.
"You always try, always, but those first four minutes are crucial," she said.
The knowledge taught in the class can help save a life, or at the least increase chances of survival until emergency responders arrive, Schuring said.
The course teaches the methods with a combination of video instruction and practicing on dummies. A video plays while the student trains on the dummy, which has greatly improved knowledge retention, she said.
Most of the techniques aren't difficult to learn: The class takes only a few hours, but having the hands-on experience is crucial, not only for the training itself, but for removing the fear from the process, Schuring said.
Getting past the fear and the mental barrier is the hardest part, she said.
"I think I'd be more likely to go help someone than stand back and hope someone else helps them," said Kelly Wolf of Aberdeen, who took the course Wednesday in preparation for opening a day care center.
Wolf said she was nervous when she first walked into the class but calmed down once she found out how simplified the techniques have become.
"I loved it. I was so scared when I walked in, but I'm so glad I did," she said. "I want to tell my husband to take it in case something happens."
The course allows people to practice the techniques used on infants, children and adults using the dummies, said Miriam Swanson, a nurse at Avera who taught the course Wednesday.
The main difference between CPR on different age groups is how much pressure to apply when doing compressions, she said. Everything else is pretty much the same.
Schuring said a lot of people who take the classes have the training paid for by their employer, but she hopes that more people will take the course because it helps everyone.
"The more people out that know CPR out there, the safer I am," she said.
Class information
Classes are the first Wednesday of every month. Call the Avera St. Luke's Education Center at 605-622-5588. The fee is $60 for first-timers and $30 for people getting their certification renewed.
