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March 3, 2009

Meeting a need

GCHS problem solving team trains Wurtland Middle Schoolers in CPR

By MIKE JAMES - The Independent

WURTLAND — Waiting for the ambulance can be agonizing.

Lauren Evans learned that when her grandmother was ill and her family called 911. They watched for more than an hour before the flashing lights signaled that medics had found the Oldtown address.

Evans and some of her friends at Greenup County High School know that long waits for emergency services are a fact of life in the rural parts of the county. Country residents aren’t surprised when they see ambulances driving back and forth, searching for a hard-to-find address on one of Greenup’s far-flung roads.

But the tight group of friends aren’t just any bunch of social butterflies. They’re problem solvers — they’ve been sniffing out solutions together since eighth grade.

It was in that year their community problem-solving team won first place in the state Governor’s Cup academic competition.

So this year the team, which also includes Madison Mantz, Elizabeth Lott, Emily Johnson and Megan Kincaid, took on the genuine and serious problem of how to save a life while waiting for the professionals to arrive.

“That kind of personal experience opened our eyes,” Lott said.

Their answer: cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR for short. It’ an emergency medical procedure for someone whose heart or breathing has stopped and with proper training can be administered by laypeople.

The girls, all sophomores at Greenup County, have made it their mission to spread CPR skills to as many people as possible.

They’re targeting churches, small groups and other students for training. Earlier this week, for instance, they went back to their old school, Wurtland Middle, for a presentation to students in the 21st Century after-school program.

Through a grant from King’s Daughters Medical Center, they got 12 training mannequins. Although the girls all learned CPR in a class at school, they’re not medical professionals so along with the mannequins the program includes a professionally produced training DVD.

As facilitators, the girls drum up interest in training and then set up the mannequins, video and supporting materials.

As students, they believe, they can inspire confidence, especially among other kids. “We want people to be reassured that they can do it,” Mantz said. “You don’t have to be an adult.”

Their immediate goal is to get at least 84 people trained. If they can meet that target, King’s Daughters is willing to supply another dozen mannequins so they can expand.

They’re looking for groups wanting the training; anyone interested may email any of them through their school accounts: firstname.lastname@stu.greenup.kyschools.us.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.

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