Campbellsville University hosts CPR training for Taylor County High School students

02/19/2016

students

Students that participated are: Front row from left to right: Cailee Higdon and Andrea Woodcox. Middle row from left to right, Maddie Tungate, Megan Januski, Bryana Edrington, Madison Lauer, Kaitlyn Lee and Chloe Benningfield. Back row from left to right Debbie Gumm, Hunter Jessie, Tyler Franklin, Katie Harris, Rebekah Cowherd, Rylen Smith, Ivy Neal and Belinda Cheng. (Campbellsville University photo by Sheng Huang).

Feb. 19, 2016
For Immediate Release

By Rachel DeCoursey, student news writer

A select group of Taylor County High School juniors made a trip across town Feb. 11 to participate in CPR training.

christie minor
Christi Minor, Campbellsville University's allied health
coordinator, gives the students a presentation on being
preparedin emergency situations. (Campbellsville
University photo by Sheng Huang).

The training is a result of the passing of Senate Bill 33 that Kentucky Sen. Max Wise, Campbellsville University assistant professor of political science, proposed to the Kentucky Senate in January. It required that all high school students have 30 minutes to one-hour worth of CPR training in either physical education or junior ROTC class to prevent putting a financial worry on schools.

Campbellsville University's Allied Health program teamed with the Taylor County School system to provide the training. Christi Minor, CU allied health coordinator, gave the students a thorough presentation on the importance of being prepared in emergency situations.

Minor briefed the students on staying calm, wearing protective gear such as gloves and recognizing unresponsive, strokes, heart attacks and cardiac arrest signals.

Following the lecture, students were able to practice CPR on dummies to the beat of the Bee Gees, “Staying Alive” playing in the background.

Debbie Gumm, gifted coordinator for the Taylor County School system, brought the students, who are the school's Youth Leadership Team, as part of their monthly activity.

“They were really excited this morning when I told them what we were doing today,” she said. “We talked a little about the Senate Bill 33 and how they were some of the first ones to receive that training.”

Minor said that allied health had paired with the school in other leadership classes, but this was the first hands-on CPR class. She was very pleased with the students.

student giving cpr
Hunter Jessie practices CPR. (Campbellsville University photo by Sheng Huang).

“I think it went great. The students were very receptive to learning and now maybe they won't be as afraid to try and help if they are in that type of situation,” Minor said.

According to Carol Sullivan, CU director of the Virginia Ponser Flanagan Technology Training Center, plans are being made to give CPR training to the entire school soon.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,500 students offering over 80 programs of study including 24 master's degrees, seven postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.