Red Cross teaching CPR certification classes


15 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Learning to save lives can be easier than you think.

The Red Cross has been teaching CPR and Automated External Defibrillator classes for years. But as important as these devices are, there are no Utah laws requiring them in state buildings. Federal law requires they be in federal buildings. Some states require them by law, but that's not case in Utah. Some people would like to see that changed.

Utah State University basketball player Danny Berger was recently saved by an AED. Bruce Jarvis, an airplane engineer at Hill Air Force Base was also saved by one. The same goes for Jaba Kumar Daniel, who was exercising at Lifetime Fitness in South Jordan when he collapsed. These three people wouldn't be alive if one of those machines was not nearby.

Marie Tasker teaches Red Cross classes and helped craft federal laws requiring AED's in federal buildings. She'd like to see more of them in public places.

"I was at the mall last night, and I was thinking it would be wonderful if each store had one (AED)," Tasker said.

At a Red Cross class, Phil Abbenante says no matter how many times he practices on a dummy, he can't help thinking it could one day be someone he cares about.

"You're typically with your friends and family, and that's who you're going to want to resuscitate," Abbenante said.

He and his AT&T co-workers are on the road a lot meeting lots of people and they never know when these CPR skills might be necessary. That's why he came to this Red Cross class.

"It makes you realize this type of thing could happen on the job and you need to be prepared for it," Abbenante said.

They also learned how to use Automated External Defibrillators to shock the heart of someone in cardiac arrest.

"Before today, I didn't have any background with an AED, but we do have one at work, so now we're trained to use it," said Red Cross student Mike Willden.

Find class schedules and more information about training with your local Red Cross chapter.

Photos

Related links

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Alex Cabrero

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast