It's extremely important': Over 1,600 Walton high schoolers will learn CPR this year

It's extremely important': Over 1,600 Walton high schoolers will learn CPR this year

Only about 46% of people who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrests get the immediate help they need before professionals arrive, according to the American Heart Association.

That’s why Florida high school students in ninth and 11th grades are now being taught how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. A new bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June requires students to take one hour of instruction on basic first aid and CPR before graduating.

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Walton County Fire Rescue and the South Walton Fire District teamed up to begin teaching some of the students at South Walton High School on Tuesday. Paramedics will visit each high school in Walton County over the next several weeks.

WCFR Training Chief Jeremy Radney said his organization has been working with the Walton County School District to schedule classes.

By the time they are done visiting schools, around December, they will have taught more than 1,600 students how to administer CPR and basic life-saving skills.

“It’s extremely important to know how to do CPR,” Radney said. “Our dispatchers here at Walton County Fire Rescue, they normally are able to walk people through the steps of CPR. But we normally have citizens refuse because they don’t know how, they’re not comfortable or something like that.”

WCFR has 25 instructors that are certified to teach CPR and first aid. During the course, students are taught how to perform CPR on both adults and infants.

Instructors give students a scenario and have them put their skills into action using manikins. They also learn how to use an automated defibrillator (AED), a machine that can analyze the heart rhythm and deliver an electric shock to restore normal rhythm.

“Let’s say someone’s just passed out at a football game or in the library, or one of their friends passed out,” Radney said. “Basically we go from there and show them the ratio of compressions to breaths, the procedure of putting in the AED and how easy it is.”

Instructors also cover how to bandage a wound, how to apply a tourniquet to stop bleeding and what to do if an infant or adult is choking.

“The kids we dealt with yesterday were very responsive,” Radney said. “They were thankful and just eager to learn. They were very responsive to what we were doing and seeing why we were doing it.”

Radney said he believes the new requirements will be highly beneficial to students both in and out of the classroom.

According to the American Heart Association, 70% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur at homes or residences, followed by 18% at public settings and 11.2% at nursing homes. If performed immediately, CPR can double the chance of survival.

The WCFR plans to continue working with the Walton County School District to provide the course every school year.

“If we can get people comfortable and trained in how to do CPR, it just increases that patient’s chance of survival once we get to them,” Radney said. “With us doing this, I feel like it’s helping. Not just in Walton County, but anywhere. They can save a life anywhere they go.”