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Columbia Heights Heart Safe Communities Offers Tri-Lingual CPR and AED Training
COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn., April 15 (PRNewswire) – In a first of its kind class in Minnesota, Columbia Heights School District is hosting a tri-lingual Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training on April 17, 2004. This course, offered in Somali, Spanish and English will simultaneously educate individuals on the life-saving skill of Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation and teach participants how to use an automated external defibrillator. Even more unique to this course, is the use of a Medtronic Physio Control AED trainer that will speak to participants in Spanish.
"Last year, Columbia Heights School District joined forces with Columbia Heights Fire Department and Allina's Heart Safe Communities project to place AEDs in our school buildings," said Peggy Nerdahl, Columbia Heights School District Nurse. "Now that we have the units in our schools, the next step is to train a wide variety of people in the community to use this life-saving equipment," said Nerdahl.
According to Nerdahl, the growing number of immigrants from both Somalia and Spanish-speaking countries who have chosen to make Columbia Heights their home, encouraged her to organize this tri-lingual event. Funded through a grant totaling more than $17,000 from the Medtronic Foundation's HeartRescue Program, this course will train more than 100 people, half of whom are non- English speakers. "We feel that reaching out to our new neighbors in this way will benefit the entire community," said Nerdahl. The more people who understand the chain of survival and what they can do to save a life before emergency help arrives, the safer our community will be." This grant will also enable the district to train an additional 332 people to learn CPR and AED skills, including 260 students.
Participants will receive CPR/AED certification from the American Red Cross. "We are extremely excited to partner with the Columbia Heights School District and Allina Hospitals & Clinics to offer this multicultural training," said Rachelle Menanteau, Multicultural Outreach Program Manager, American Red Cross - Minneapolis Area Chapter. "We can save lives by educating people of different cultures and backgrounds," said Menanteau. "By learning these skills, some participants will be empowered to become leaders in their communities to help prevent, prepare and respond to emergencies," Menanteau added.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Sidebar:
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) strikes more than 450,000 people -- including 7,000 children -- each year in the United States alone. Striking without warning, SCA is an ineffective quivering of the heart muscle caused by an electrical malfunction of the heart. Tragically, only five percent of those struck down by SCA survive, making it the leading cause of death in the United States today. The most effective treatment for SCA is an electric shock to the heart, called defibrillation. This shock is administered by an automated external defibrillator (AED), traditionally a piece of medical equipment only available through, and administered by, paramedics and emergency medical professionals. An AED is an electronic device that analyzes the heart's rhythm and can tell the user to deliver a shock when it is required.
The Columbia Heights School District is large enough to provide educational opportunities that small school districts can't, yet is small enough so that administrators, staff, parents and students know each other and share a sense of community. The Columbia Heights School District offers the "best of both worlds" -- a "small town" feeling along with the advantages of being part of a major metropolitan area. Five hundred out of the more than 3000 students in the district receives English Language Learner Services.
http://www.colheights.k12.mn.us
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