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SALT LAKE CITY -- One of the many bills the Utah Legislature passed this year is the Good Samaritan Bill. It states that if you try to help someone -- with CPR, for example -- you can't be sued if something goes wrong. This week is CPR Awareness Week, and the Red Cross of Utah is hoping more people will learn it.
For 50 hours a month, 12 months a year, for more than 30 years, Skip Morgan has been teaching others how to save lives. He's a Red Cross volunteer who has dedicated himself to teaching CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator, or AED.
In emergency situations, Morgan says you have to act fast. "It's going to keep the victim's brain alive, keep blood going to the brain," he said.
He has personally performed CPR on three victims. Though he doesn't know how they turned out, he knows how they would've turned out if no one acted. "Not doing CPR gives the victim almost no chance of survival," he said.
Morgan says there's no excuse not to learn. He suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and often uses a wheelchair.
Susan Thomas, who works with the Red Cross, says when it comes to saving lives, all you need is what you got, and a little training.
"If you see a car accident, if you see someone collapse, if your child is choking, we just want you to be able to know what to do to save a life," she said.
"It's an emotional thing. It's an adrenaline thing. It's really a crazy thing to do, but man, I'm really glad I knew what to do," Morgan said.
He also often hears from his students how they helped save a life using CPR. "That's my payday. When I hear that, that's like the big massive deposit into the account," he said.
That alone just keeps him going.
The Red Cross has several CPR and AED classes a week. For information on those classes, see the list below and click on the link for your nearest Red Cross chapter:
- Greater Salt Lake Area Red Cross Chapter
- Mountain Valley Red Cross Chapter (Utah County)
- American Red Cross of Northern Utah (Ogden area)
- American Red Cross of Cache County
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
