- College of Medicine Communique
Eighty-five local high school students became CPR certified at the UCF College of Medicine Wednesday and became lifesavers for the community.
The training was part of UCF’s Health Leaders’ Summer Academy, which introduces young people to healthcare careers. In addition to CPR training, the attendees learned to use Automatic External Defibrillators or AEDs, properly care for wounds and how to help someone who is choking. During the week-long camp, students receive guidance and mentorship from faculty and students at UCF’s Colleges of Health Professions and Sciences, Global Health Management & Informatics, Nursing and Medicine.
Although CPR is a well-known and effective way for anyone to improve outcomes for someone who experienced a cardiac arrest, bystanders are often hesitant to step in out of fear of lack of training or that they may make a mistake. UCF’s Dr. Tracy MacIntosh, an emergency medicine physician, organized the training to empower the young people to be confident in an emergency.
“If a bystander can start CPR before the paramedics get there, we give people the best chance of survival,” she said. “We would like as many people as possible in the community to be confident in their CPR skills and help our community members who experience a cardiac arrest, allowing us to save more lives each year.”
When someone suffers cardiac arrest, their heart stops pumping blood to the rest of the body, including the brain. In the time it takes emergency services to arrive, brain tissue and heart muscle can begin dying rapidly from a lack of oxygen. By administering CPR, a bystander plays the role of the beating heart, using their arms to pump blood throughout the body, nourishing cells and keeping that tissue alive. That action potentially doubles or triples the patient’s chance of survival.
“If someone goes into cardiac arrest for six minutes and they don’t get care, they will suffer permanent damage,” said Tony Renta, Owner and CEO of On-Call Training Services, who lead the class. “So what really saves lives is the public’s intervention on someone who goes into cardiac arrest.”
Students said they appreciated the hands-on training and also the opportunity to learn about the variety of healthcare careers they could enter.
“You never know when you will need these skills, so it’s really helpful to know the right technique,” said Costanza Romero said of the CPR Training. An 11th grade student at Lake Nona High School, Romero dreams of becoming a neuroscientist to combine her love for biology and helping people.
Sabrina Molina, an 11th grade student at Freedom High School, wants to be a surgeon, but was eager to hear about the many career options in patient care. “Every career has its own beauty, and it’s very cool to see each one,” she said. “I want to learn as much as I can about it all.”
This year’s camp was supported in part by a grant from Nemours Children’s Health, allowing the camp to expand to more students, provide transportation and meals, the CPR training certification and additional educational materials to spark attendees’ interest in healthcare.
“We are so grateful with our partnerships with Nemours, Osceola Education Foundation, Elevate Orlando, the VA and our school partners, because we all share a similar mission,” said Dr. MacIntosh. “We all want more doctors to stay in Central Florida and serve this community, and we are all invested in supporting our young students achieve their dreams.”
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- community health