RIDGEFIELD, CT — You’ve seen it a hundred times in movies and TV shows. Someone drops to the floor, clutching their chest, and starts knocking on Death’s door — until some handy bystander begins administering CPR. Moments later, after some melodramatic sputtering, the almost-victim is back on their feet, just in time for the commercial break.
As familiar as that scenario sounds, how many of us have the skills to be that helpful bystander?
Not very many, according to one Ridgefield teen, and she hopes to change that.
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Tara Slovinski is a rising senior at School of the Holy Child in Rye, NY, and also an EMT with Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps. For the last two years, she has taught nearly 100 students at her school to perform hands-only CPR and to use an automated external defibrillator, or AED. She’s now looking to channel some of her expertise back into her hometown.
Slovinski is the very recent founder of Hands-On Ridgefield, a collaboration with the Ridgefield Fire Department.
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“Our mission is to train as many Ridgefielders as possible who want to learn to be able to perform hands-only CPR and use an AED. As a community, Ridgefield is a place where bystanders would want to help, but need to be taught the skills to do so,” Slovinski said.
Hands-On Ridgefield will be hosting free training sessions on Saturday mornings, August 3, 10 and 17. There will be six chances to learn, with two identical 60-minute sessions each day.
The training sessions are free, and will be held at the Fire Department’s HQ at 6 Catoonah Street. Residents interested in learning how to save lives may register online at the Hands-on-Ridgefield website.
The centerpiece of treatment for cardiac arrest is cardio pulmonary resuscitation — CPR — a technique that uses chest compressions to simulate how the heart pumps. It can double or even triple a person’s chances of survival, according to the American Heart Association.
In addition to basic CPR, Slovinski and the town emergency workers will be training attendees in AED use.
“It basically sends an electrical shock to the heart, trying to restart its rhythm and get normal pumping again,” she explained. They’re pricey should you decide to install one at home, but they’re also free to use and all over town, if you know where to look.
A little bit of knowledge, and a little bit of training in some basic techniques, make the difference between life and death every day. Slovinski, who aspires to be a nurse, drilled down into the stats:
“Without bystander help, survival decreases by 10 percent per minute. Sadly, less than 40 percent of adults in the U.S. receive bystander-initiated CPR, and fewer than 12 percent undergo defibrillation before EMS arrives.”
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