Seneca County EMS and fire volunteers donate CPR training equipment
Seneca County EMS and fire volunteers donate CPR training equipment
Seneca East High School students to benefit from much-needed new gear
[Tiffin, OH April 30, 2019] – Volunteers from Seneca County EMS and from county fire departments teamed up to help meet equipment needs for Seneca East High School Tuesday morning.
Jennifer Hill, coordinator for Republic EMS, said her department worked with Scipio-Republic Volunteer Fire Department, Bloomville EMS and Bloom Township Volunteer Fire Department to deliver 10 new CPR training mannequins to Seneca East High School personnel. Hill said five child/adult mannequins and five infant mannequins were donated to help School Nurse Amy Ferres train students on CPR.
Ferres said the state now requires all students, entering the 9th grade in the 2017-2018 school year and beyond to have “hands-on” training for both CPR and AED.
The school’s current equipment was dilapidated and needed to be replaced.
“Our older (equipment) was very ancient, we needed to upgrade,” she said.
Ferres also said the older equipment was not compatible with AEDs, a problem remedied by the new gear.
“These are much more useful and helpful,” she said.
Hill said when she and the other volunteers learned of the need, they felt they should step up. She said money was then taken from the budgets of each department to fund the new equipment. The value of the mannequins is more than $1,000.
Joe Kelbley, of Bloom Township Volunteer Fire Department and Bloomville EMS, said the mannequins will make Ferres’ job much easier when training students and staff on CPR.
“If it’s one little thing we could do to be helpful, we wanted to do it,” Hill added.
Commissioner Holly Stacy said she was happy the volunteers collaborated with the school on the project.
“Congratulations to the volunteers for stepping up and helping others to do what they do on a regular basis – prepare to save lives,” she said. “They recognized the need at the school, partnered with them and it really speaks volumes about their selfless attitudes.”
Stacy said it’s beneficial for the school to have the new equipment, so students are properly trained and prepared during an emergency.