Medical Director Dr. Franklin Pratt and Fire Station 41
Train 200 Students On CPR

On March 5, Los Angeles County firefighters and Los Angeles Unified School District educators joined forces for a second time with the American Heart Association (AHA) to teach teenagers attending King Drew Medical Magnet High School in South Central L.A. how to save lives. Two hundred teens were taught how to recognize an emergency and save a life during the free Hands-Only CPR training which was conducted jointly by our L.A. County Fire Department, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the AHA.

Earlier this year the AHA issued a science advisory recommending CPR and AED training for all secondary school students. Sudden cardiac arrest can strike anyone, anywhere. And when it does, a victim's survival depends on the people around them. Training more people to perform CPR increases survival by enabling more possible bystanders to handle an emergency. Every year between 250,000 to 300,000 people in the U.S. and up to five million worldwide die from sudden cardiac arrest.

At the training, students received free "CPR Anytime Kits," which they took home with a challenge to train 10 family members and friends. The at-home kits come with a mannequin, a 22-minute DVD and an instruction book provided by funding support from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. As Pratt explains, "CPR Anytime" is a powerful program that addresses all of the barriers responsible for the lack of life-saving CPR training in the student community. Our innovative, all-inclusive kit addresses community needs and saves lives. This is a movement to empower youth to use their hands to save a life."

"The Los Angeles County Fire Department is pleased to help teach King-Drew Medical Magnet students Hands-Only CPR, a life-saving skill," says Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby. "CPR-trained King-Drew students are a valuable community resource that the Los Angeles County Fire Department is proud to support."