The speaker at Kingston North Kitsap Rotary Club's Mar 26 noon meeting was billed as Michele Laboda from North Kitsap Fire and Rescue.
What Rotarians did not know is Michele was bringing five EMT/firefighters with her. To put the room through CPR training. First, she mentioned a NKFR program called "Are You Wildfire Ready." It provides a free homeowner site visit, that leads to a free Wildfire Ready Plan. She also mentioned community CPR training scheduled May 17 at Village Green Community Center. Classes at 9, 10, 11, and noon. More info and signup at: nkfr.org.
Michele turned the training over to NKFR EMT Lead, Theron Rahier, who outlined the importance of CPR before EMT's arrive. He said the chances of losing someone in distress goes up ten percent for every minute CPR is not performed.
Rotarians then split into groups to practice the training. Step one - check to see the area is safe. Step two - check to see if the person is OK. Step three - if not, check for breathing. Step four - if none is detected, direct someone to call 911. And direct someone else to get the AED if one is available. Step five - deep chest presses at 110 beats per minute for two minutes. Step six - continue with someone else performing CPR until help arrives. Step seven - if/when the person responds, roll them into roll-over position to prevent vomiting into the airway.
Michele told members the average response time for NKFR is seven minutes.