Every Wednesday, students can make a quick stop on their way to class and learn a technique that could help them save lives.
USC Student Health, in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH), is hosting “hands-only CPR” training sessions every Wednesday in McCarthy Quad from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Pappas Quad from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Nov. 18.
Hands-only CPR (HOCPR) is a method of using chest compressions to get blood back circulating through the body without mouth-to-mouth breaths. If a teen or adult collapses in a non-hospital setting, the procedure can be used to keep the heartbeat stable before calling 9-1-1.
“A lot of times when someone is injured, they go down and they need compressions, and people are afraid to do it,” said Savannah Gore, the USC Occupational Health & Injury Prevention Safety Specialist. “So we’re just trying to make people a little bit more aware of what they can do, and an easier way to do it, to help save a loved one.”
USC students and staff members from both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses, including Gore, and across Los Angeles, are leading training initiatives as a part of LADPH’s “Heart Heroes” campaign. The countywide effort seeks to train 500,000 L.A. County residents in HOCPR by Dec. 31.
Viewing the campaign as an extension of the university’s collaboration with the county during the pandemic, USC Student Health began offering HOCPR training sessions in mid-October as a part of the Campus Health unit – overseen by Chief Campus Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman.
“Working with the county on a public health initiative is really in keeping with what we want to do – get the campus to understand what they can do on an individual level, and on a broader, team, organizational, cohort level,” said Minne Ho, USC Student Health Executive Director of Communications.
HOCPR trainers are also encouraged to organize training sessions for groups including student clubs, fraternities, sororities and residence halls by leading their groups in watching a two minute training video, and demonstrating the technique on a mannequin.
Once individuals at the on-campus booths successfully complete training, participants can receive a special Trojan edition “Heart Heroes” sticker, and will be ready to join the thousands of L.A. residents ready to help save a life.
While HOCPR is “a basic life-saving tool that you can have in your toolkit,” Gore said, USC also offers more comprehensive courses and training programs in first aid, CPR and in Automatic-External Defibrillator (AED) use that includes methods that can be used for people of all ages.
With over 410,000 L.A. County residents trained by Heart Heroes partners so far, Ho said the campaign has served as a means of “getting members of the community to learn about different ways that they can take care of themselves and also their friends, neighbors and community members.”
“Learning more about where it’s available in your community, and participating when your schedule permits, [is] always a good thing,” Ho said. “You have this skill, you have it for life.”
To sign up to be a CPR trainer, and to get involved with the Heart Heroes campaign, visit USC’s website. More information on the Heart Heroes program, as well as tips for successfully administering CPR, can also be found on USC’s website. For a complete CPR course catalog and more resources, visit the American Heart Association’s website.