Time is the enemy when someone has a serious health emergency that stops blood flow to their organs. Starting CPR quickly can literally save a life.“Minutes count,” says Jake Lindauer, director of the Lisbon-Mount Vernon Ambulance Service. “If CPR is started before our EMT professionals arrive on the scene, the prognosis for a good outcome goes way up. Bystanders who know CPR are especially important in rural communities like ours.”
Lindauer adds that if you are called to use your CPR skills, it most likely will be on one of your own family members.
If you’d like to learn life-saving CPR skills from Lindauer and other LMVAS professional trainers, a free training class will be held on Saturday, January 24, at the Thomas Commons building on the Cornell College campus from 9:00 to 12:00 a.m. You can sign up at the Rotary Club of Linn County web site, rotarylc.org, and follow the links to Mount Vernon CPR Training. Lindauer and LMVAS professionals will be the trainers, and it is open to anyone who lives or works in Lisbon or Mount Vernon and is 16 or older. Enrollment will be limited to the first 40 enrollees.
LMVAS trainers will also offer an optional Stop the Bleed class on the same day and same location, 1:00-3:00 p.m. You can indicate if you will attend the Stop the Bleed class when you enroll for CPR.
The training is free, but if you need Heartsaver certification from the American Heart Association, you will have to pay the fee ($30) on training day. Infant CPR and AED (defibrillator) training will be part of the class.
The Rotary Club of Linn County is again helping to organize the CPR class. “One of our missions is to make our communities safer and healthier for all residents,” says Katie Wilford, Rotary Club of Linn County President. “Helping get more people trained in life-saving CPR skills is one way we can do that. Area businesses, churches, schools, senior centers, government offices, sports venues, and other public places need to have people trained in CPR. Your own home needs it, too.”
This will be the seventh year the Rotary Club and the Ambulance Service have partnered to offer the Community CPR class. Nearly 200 Lisbon and Mount Vernon community members have been trained.
What: 6th Annual Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community CPR Training Class
When: Saturday, January 27, 2024
CPR Class: 9:00-12:00
Stop the Bleed Class: 1:00-3:00
Where: Cornell College Campus, Thomas Commons, 810 Commons Circle, Mount Vernon, Iowa
Who: Anyone 16+ who lives or works in Mount Vernon or Lisbon. Class size limited to first 40 enrollees.
How to enroll: Sign-up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508044FACA62BA5F85-46483654-free
Sponsors: Lisbon-Mount Vernon Ambulance Service (trainers); Cornell College; Hills Bank (refreshments); Rotary Club of Linn County.
About the Lisbon-Mount Vernon Ambulance Service: The Lisbon-Mt. Vernon Ambulance Service is a hybrid paid on-call ambulance serving the Mt. Vernon and Lisbon communities and surrounding areas. The service is made up of one full time EMS director and 35 on-call paramedics, AEMTs, EMTs, and drivers who respond 24/7 to emergencies in the region. To learn more, visit lmvas.org.
About the Rotary Club of Linn County: The Rotary Club of Linn County is a service organization made up of neighbors, friends, and community leaders who have a common interest in creating positive, lasting change in our communities and around the world. To learn more, visit rotarylc.org. Contact: Gene Johnston, Rotary Club of Linn County, 515-473-1421, g.johnston59@gmail.com