SCRANTON, Pa. — After Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after a hit during the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals game, there's a lot of talk about CPR and AED training and the importance of time.
Bruce Beauvais is the Operations manager with PA Ambulance and says that was the key to helping save Hamlin's life.
"Without immediate CPR, without an AED within that first four-minute window, the outcome of that could have been much different," Beauvais said. "I firmly believe that CPR and AED training should be a life skill. It should be one of those things that you should learn. If you've learned first aid in your life, you should have learned CPR and AED training."
Beauvais showed us some of the types of AED devices that give you audio instructions on using them correctly.
"Everyone clear. Press the flashing button. Make sure nobody's touching the patient. I'm clear. You're clear. Shock delivered. Provide chest compressions and rescue breath," Beauvais said. "It'll direct you push harder, push faster, push harder, push faster, and it will give you a little beat, a metronome, it'll go tick, tick, tick, tick, tick to get you into that rhythm."
Beauvais says he's received many calls from people and organizations who want to learn those skills if ever they're in an emergency situation.
"You can go to the American Heart Association, and you can search for CPR classes on their website. We offer CPR classes once a month here for the public. We also do in-person classes, and we have our training center here," Beauvais said.
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