Taking it to heart: Class teaches life-saving techniques

Published May 13, 2009
By Howdy Stout
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- "Yes, I've heard all the Resusci-Annie jokes," she says, arranging the truncated CPR mannequin on the table in front of the classroom.

But for Anne Taggart, a basic life support instructor with the Tinker Technology Center, teaching people to save lives is no joke.

"If a person needs CPR, technically they are dead," Ms. Taggart tells her class. "The chance of their heart starting on its own is slim to none. And if you don't do CPR, they're dead."

Ms. Taggart is one of three basic life support instructors at the center who use hands-on training with the modern-day equivalent of the famous Resusci-Annie mannequin to teach the life-saving techniques of CPR to workers of the 76th Maintenance Wing. The center, a satellite of the Mid-Del Technology Center, is under contract to provide cardio-pulmonary resuscitation training and the use of automated external defibrillators.

The three-hour classes teach students how to perform CPR and use an AED on both adults and children. Once successfully completed, each student receives certification from the American Heart Society as qualified life-savers.

"I love teaching this," Ms. Taggart says. "With this class you feel you're giving people some useful information."

"I think that teaching something that can be used anywhere is great," said fellow instructor Scott Schmidt. "It's nice to know what we're teaching is used and works."

And use it they do. Earlier this year workers in the paint shop at Tinker used a combination of CPR and the AED to save the life of a 23-year-old co-worker who suffered cardiac arrest.

"It's not necessarily that you have to be 50 or 60 years old to have a heart attack," Ms. Taggert said. In fact, she added, heart attacks are the No. 1 cause of death among women in the US. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the US.

Heart attack survival rates are dependent on how quickly the victim receives help, Ms. Taggert says.

"The quicker you act, the better the chance," she says.

Depending on reaction times, heart attack survival rates vary between 2 and 53 percent. And the chance of survival is all attributable to reaction time among co-workers, bystanders and emergency medical teams.

The prevalence of heart attacks in American society means that most CPR students have anecdotal stories of knowing a heart attack victim. That, Mr. Schmidt says, motivates many of his students to learn CPR.

"Most people want to take this class," he said. "They're not forced and that makes a difference."

The demand for the course is high with the tech center offering 40, three-hour classes in April alone.

Students are active participants in the class, using their own mannequin to practice CPR techniques. Once the basics are mastered, students are given real-life scenarios to hone their life-saving skills.

"Just like it's a real emergency," Ms. Taggert said.

Both Ms. Taggert and Mr. Schmidt believe the emphasis on student participation helps demystify CPR. Removing the fear of performing CPR, they say, means students are more confident of coping with real-world situations.

"Our class helps take the fear and uncertainty away," Ms. Taggert says.

Another benefit of the class is the simplified CPR style taught. In 2005 the American Heart Association simplified CPR procedures and techniques. Gone are the written tests by which students were evaluated. Instead, instructors evaluate each student based on their practical performance.

"They changed the philosophy of how they taught the layperson," Mr. Schmidt said. "Some people wouldn't take the class because they wouldn't take the written test."

Also taught in the class is the use of the AED. While CPR will keep blood flowing through a heart attack victim, the simple-to-use AED is used to restore a sustainable rhythm to the heart. More than 400 AEDs are placed throughout Tinker.

However, technology is no substitute for a trained life-saver.

"The AEDs are good, but you need the CPR training to go along with that," explained Eva Brown, training leader with the center.

And she should know. CPR saved her sister, who was clinically dead for 12 minutes.

"She came back," said a grateful Ms. Brown.

CPR class