Free CPR training event held at The Pit
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexicans gathered at The Pit Saturday morning to learn a critical life-saving skill – CPR. UNM Athletics and Project Heart Start held their second annual CPR training event.
When it comes to helping someone after they’ve had a heart attack, doing nothing isn’t an option.
“Without CPR, if it’s going to be a few minutes, 10 minutes before an ambulance gets there or other help arrives, by that time there has been too much damage and there is not a very good outcome,” said Jordan Scoby, a New Heart exercise physiologist and pulmonary rehab coordinator.
That’s why cardiac experts like Scoby want people to learn CPR. The pulmonary rehab coordinator says a majority of cardiac events happen at home because that’s where people spend most of their time.
The more people that know CPR, the better.
“Anyone who has experienced a family member with a heart attack or a friend had a heart attack, it always comes by surprise. There are young healthy people who are active and they still have a heart attack. That surprise is what motivates people to learn CPR and learn about their heart,” said Scoby.
That’s exactly what happened Saturday when UNM Athletics and Project Heart Start drew in hundreds of people to learn the life-saving skill.
“Recently in October my sister had her child and just in case anything happened, we have a pool at our apartment complex, we wanted to teach him just in case anything happened. We wanted to be prepared for any dire situation,” said Vivika.
The free course also served as a good refresher for many who learned CPR years ago.
“They were recommending at first, “Listen for breath sounds, check the pulse, where do you check it?’ It scared a lot of people away from doing CPR because they thought they were going to hurt the person or do the wrong thing, and they didn’t want to mess something up,” Scoby said.
“I had learned first aid CPR when I was a lot younger, so it’s nice to see the changes that they made. How the breathing isn’t involved, and now it’s just the compressions,” said Honey Smalls.