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Show ! ; ' I lit Jlfl&X CPR TECHNIQUES ARE brought to life at Viewmont High School as Mary Ellen Gait demonstrates techniques to Sophomore Steve Maxfield. Class teaches first aid "Since a person can be brain-dead from lack of oxygen in four to six minutes, having someone there who knows what to do and how to supply oxygen can mean the difference differ-ence between life and death." THE EMT'S (Emergency Medical Technicians) who handle the course in the classroom are Lee Monson, Dean Williams and MaryEllen Gait. Mr. Monson and Mr. Williams both work for the West Valley City Fire Department, and Ms. Gait works for the South Davis Fire Department. In an average aver-age class, each EMT will take one CPR doll, a life-size mannequin with inflatable "lungs," and between be-tween six and ten students. Each student is given the opportunity to practice artificial respiration and heart massage on both the adult and baby dolls. A series of lights will indicate to the student whether or not he is performing the breathing brea-thing or heart massage correctly. Karlynn Bloomfield, a current student of the class, feels it to be a positive experience. "I think it's good to learn CPR. It's easy to learn, and you never know when you're going to need it. STEPHANIE Spendlove and Lise Wilburn had this to say about the class: "It makes us realize how scary it would be if we didn't know what to do. It encouraged us to sign up for the summer CPR certification certifica-tion class." Out of the 7,000 students in Utah who have taken the course, eight so far have found occasion to use it. If only one life was saved by each of those students, it makes all of the training and preparation v worthwhile. By ROB ROWAN Most high-school classes are designed de-signed to help the student survive later on in life. However, one new class at Viewmont High School is going to prepare students to help others survive. THE COURSE, which is formally formal-ly entitled "What to do Until the Ambulance Arrives," teaches exactly ex-actly that, it is designed to give instruction in the basic mechanics of CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, resus-citation, and first aid, and has been integrated into all of the Salt Lake high schools and nearly all of the Davis high schools. It receives spe-cial spe-cial funding from the Utah Emergency Medical Training Council, thereby relieving the school board of any expense for it. The course at Viewmont was taught in the health classes until recently, when it was worked into a one-quarter class including sections sec-tions on career planning and alcohol alco-hol and drug awareness. The class is taught by Bill Ostler and Monte Jones back-to-back with driver's education. "It takes an average of six minutes to respond to an emergency call," says Mr. Ostler. |