Rathje’s path in the fire service began long before he joined the Columbus Fire Department. He spent around a decade as a volunteer firefighter in Rising City before moving into Columbus’ reserve program, where he served for about a year.

Today, he has accumulated about 3 1/2 years with the department between reserve and career roles, including about 2 1/2 years as a full-time firefighter-paramedic.

Ask him what keeps him in the profession, and the answer is straightforward.

“Helping people,” Rathje said. “They call it the fire service for a reason: We serve the public.”

That same mindset sparked a new initiative in bringing hands-only CPR training directly into local high schools.

The idea had been discussed informally among firefighters during shifts. But it gained urgency following a real-life incident in July, when a student from Columbus High School performed CPR and helped save a life.

For Rathje, that moment underscored the importance of early intervention.

“That’s kind of where I was like, you know what — this is hard facts that early hands-only CPR saves lives,” he said.

With support from department leadership, Rathje began turning the idea into action. As a paramedic, he is qualified to teach the technique, and he quickly started coordinating with schools.

His first session recently took place at Lakeview High School, where he led a hands-on training during a freshman physical education class. The program is intentionally simple — requiring just one class period.

Rathje brings CPR mannequins to the classroom and walks students through the basics: checking for responsiveness, assessing a pulse and performing chest compressions. The focus is on hands-only CPR, a method backed by recent studies showing that oxygen already in the bloodstream can sustain vital organs for several minutes when circulation is maintained.

“When somebody goes into cardiac arrest, their heart stops,” Rathje explained. “The sooner we can start CPR and get that blood flowing, it helps keep the brain and organs alive.”

The response from students, he said, exceeded expectations.

“I was actually very surprised at how locked in they were,” Rathje said. “Everybody was really attentive … they were trying their best to learn.”

Now, the goal is to expand. Rathje is working to bring the program to additional schools, including Columbus High School, with the long-term vision of reaching students annually — potentially training hundreds each year.

Beyond the classroom, he also sees opportunities in the broader community, from local events to public spaces, where quick, informal demonstrations could introduce even more people to the technique.

Support from leadership has played a key role in moving the initiative forward.

Columbus Fire Chief Ryan Gray said empowering firefighters to develop and implement ideas is essential to the department’s culture.

“We strive to create the ability for anybody, regardless of rank, title or time in the department, to formulate an idea and implement it,” Gray said. “This is an example of one event leading to something that can help our community be more successful in the future.”

He said hands-only CPR also removes barriers that may have discouraged people in the past, making it easier for more individuals to step in during an emergency.

“It’s just pump the chest, get the heart flowing, and the chances of survival substantially increase,” Gray said. “Let’s say you teach 100 kids and only 10 of them come away with something — that’s better than zero.”

Just as important, Gray added, is the opportunity for students to connect with firefighters and see public service as a potential career path.

For Rathje, the work reflects a full-circle moment, one that began with childhood inspiration.

He recalled watching firefighters respond to a house fire when he was a young boy, seeing them emerge in full gear and thinking, “That’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Years later, that early impression has grown into a career — and now, a mission to pass along knowledge that can save lives.

Even if only a fraction of students carry those lessons forward, Rathje and the department see it as a success.

And for Rathje, that’s reason enough to keep going — one class, one student and one lifesaving skill at a time.