Stayin’ Alive: CPR training for staff

Ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive, staying alive…

A life saving song that was suggested we sing if we ever need to do  CPR.  Why?  The beat to this classic 70’s Bee Gees song is just about the perfect tempo to do chest compressions while performing this life-saving  technique.

Over 55 % of St. Anthony’ staff is certified for CPR and 1^st Aid.  Almost everyday we experience health emergencies in our service programs at the Foundation – seizures, heart problems, overdose, reaction to medication, fainting,  etc.  Because of the professional  trainings we receive our staff know how to recognize and react to these emergencies, so that  while we are waiting for EMT to arrive we can respond appropriately to the emergency at hand.

About every two years our staff gets professional training from a fabulous instructor–Louise Natoli, CMA, RCT–who has been training us for over 12 years.  Every time she visits the Foundation she tells me that she is admires the work we do serving the very poor and  needy in the Tenderloin, and that that is why she likes coming to St. Anthony’s.  When we call on Louise she laboriously and lovingly drags the CPR dummies, booklets, lap top and monitor, bandages,  gauze,  practice AED’s out of her car,  to the Foundation  and sets up  the classroom in whatever conference room or office space we have available.  She is always accommodating and flexible with setting up trainings and making quick changes to the schedule  because she understands  the urgent matters that can happen in an instant for staff . During a break on her last training visit I told her that almost everyday we use the skills that she has taught us and we probably have helped to save  a life here and there.  She smiled and nodded yes as we both listened to the sound of a siren heading down Golden Gate Ave.