Twice this school year, Newport High School has held CPR training courses. For a small fee, members of the community had the opportunity to learn this life-saving first-aid skill.
CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is a technique that can be used to save the life of someone who has gone into cardiac arrest. It is famously done to the beat of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, but can be done to any song with a BPM (beats-per-minute) pulse of 100-120. For example, “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” by Justin Timberlake, “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi, “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, and “Happier” by Marshmello & Bastille all have the required BPM. Cardiac arrest, contrary to popular belief, is not the same as a heart attack. Heart attacks occur when there is death of the heart muscle from a lack of blood supply caused by a blockage. They may cause cardiac arrest, which is when the heart stops beating properly, or potentially at all. Cardiac arrest is what CPR is tailored to, not heart attacks. Over 436,000 people die each year in the U.S. from cardiac arrest.
Two CPR certification classes are held each school year, one in the fall and another in the spring. This year’s classes were held on Oct. 11, 2024, and Mar. 14, 2025. These courses were taught based on the 2020 CPR guidelines, but new guidelines will be released sometime this year. They used CPR dummies to teach those who participated adult and baby hands-only CPR, as well as the Heimlich maneuver. Part of the instruction for operating on babies involved smacking the baby dummy with the heel of the hand to dislodge anything blocking the airway. The mechanical functions of this dummy, however, failed to remain intact. “We broke the baby, we smacked it so hard,” remembers freshman Eliza Benner.
One focus of the class was the importance of AEDs, or automated external defibrillators. These devices come in red boxes marked with the symbol of a heart with an electric bolt in it. When used correctly, AEDs can deliver an electrical shock through a person’s heart to return it to its original and natural rhythm. If not used correctly, however, this shock can be hazardous. “Don’t forget to tell everybody to back away when you’re using the AED,” says freshman Alivia James, who attended the October course. “If someone gets shocked, then you have two dead bodies on your hands and only one of you, and only one AED.”
All sports coaches are required by law to be CPR certified, meaning that Coach Field, Coach Parrish, and Coach Swartz are all currently up-to-date with their certification. Sixteen people attended the classes, ten in the Fall and six in the Spring. All of these people are now CPR certified through the American Heart Association, and will be until their certification expires in two years. Mrs. Field, who helped lead the courses, encourages everyone to become certified. She is adamant about the fact that 80% of CPR is performed on a family member or someone you know, and has hopes for a school that is “100% certified.”
