Hands-Only CPR Training at MHS will have a Ripple Effect at 10 School Districts

In collaboration with the New York Jets, the American Heart Association held a “Train the Trainers” session on Nov. 6 at the Mahwah High School Think Tank.  
In addition to two Mahwah Township Public Schools trainees, participants came from school districts of Bergenfield, Northern Highlands Regional, Park Ridge, Pascack Valley Regional, Prospect Park, Ramapo Indian Hills Regional, Ramsey and River Dell.

Ramapo Ridge Middle School Physical Education Teacher Zoe Delohery was one of the representatives of MTPS at the training. She coaches girls soccer at RRMS. 
“Every second counts in an emergency. What we learned today will help us, and those we pass these skills to, to detect the signs of a cardiac emergency and act if a situation arises,” said Ms. Delohery. “I’m looking forward to bringing these tools to my colleagues so we can keep our schools safe.”  

NY Jets donated training kits and AEDs  
The N.Y. Jets football team’s collaboration with the American Heart Association includes the donation of a complete CPR in Youth Sports training kit for each person who took part in the Train the Trainers event.  
The Jets also donated three automated external defibrillators (AEDs). One was given to MTPS for hosting the event. Two other schools randomly chosen to win AEDs were Northern Highlands Regional High School and Pascack Valley Hills High School.

The ripple effect can help meet and exceed state requirements  
Each trainee will return to his or her school with a training kit and the knowledge needed to conduct instructional sessions for 10 to 20 colleagues at a time. MTPS will now have two trainers certified in Hands-Only CPR that will make training staffers easier.  
Every New Jersey school is required to have at least five staff members certified in CPR/AED techniques, and a trained staff member must be on site for every sporting event and team practice.  

• MTPS goes further to train all coaches, administrators and supervisors, and to train all paraprofessionals because they have a higher chance of working with students who have medical needs. That dedication gives the district about 170 trained employees across its seven schools.   

What is Hands-Only CPR?  
The Hands-Only method has been shown to be as effective as traditional CPR that combines blood-pumping chest compressions with oxygen-delivering breaths. Also called compression-only CPR, it can be less intimidating than mouth-to-mouth contact, but just as effective when used in the first few minutes of an adult’s sudden cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting.