SUNBURY, Pa. — With temperatures reaching 90 degrees in parts of our area, it was a good day to go swimming. But with more people in the pool, reports of drownings tend to increase. That's why experts suggest people learn CPR.
"Everybody should have this skill. There could be a lot of lives saved just by doing compressions, circulating blood and oxygen to the brain," said Barry Mutschler, an EMT with the Americus Hose Company in Sunbury.
Mutschler is also a CPR instructor and believes children should learn CPR.
"Young, school level — children will get the idea that they can actually help somebody in a crisis, emergency. It does save lives."
Recently, the importance of young children learning CPR was in the national spotlight. 10-year-old twins from Alabama helped save their father's life last month when he was drowning in the family's pool. The young boys had no formal CPR training but remembered what they had seen in the movie "The Sandlot."
Mutschler demonstrated how to do chest compressions.
"You're not doing any harm because dead is dead, and something you can do to bring that person back, circulating that blood, is going to keep that person alive."
The Americus Hose Company recently got a donation of training aides. If somebody comes to take a CPR class, they'll get to take them home.
In addition to the mannequin, the kit includes a DVD, instruction booklet, and extra lungs to breathe into.
Earlier this week, the Americus Hose Company gave out some of the kits and gave CPR demonstrations at Sunbury's 250th-anniversary festival. The ambulance company also does CPR classes for members of the community.
"Boy Scouts, we do a lot of industry, the general public a lot of times just wants to do a general public class."
If you are interested in taking a CPR class, contact your local ambulance company or the American Heart Association.
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