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Cardiologist and learning community mentor Cynthia Ennis, DO, observes as medical students practice hands-only CPR at a Blackstone House training event. |
Students at UMass Medical School are primed to teach as many members of the Worcester community as they possibly can how to perform hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The students, members of the Blackstone House Learning Community at UMMS, will be at the opening game of the Worcester Bravehearts on Friday, June 3, where they’ll work alongside other representatives of the American Heart Association to teach people of all ages how to perform the potentially lifesaving technique anytime, anywhere.
The simple technique can save the lives of people in cardiac arrest and can be easily taught to laypeople.
“Hands only CPR is much easier to teach and learn than CPR with breaths, and has been shown to be just as effective in the majority of cases,” said first-year School of Medicine student Brittany Berk.
“Most people don’t survive cardiac arrest, but receiving CPR as soon as possible dramatically improves chances of survival,” explained Cynthia Ennis, DO, who proposed hands-only CPR for the service initiative, and is teaching the technique to students. Dr. Ennis, assistant professor of medicine, is president of the Central Massachusetts Board of Directors of the American Heart Association, which created the Friends and Family Anywhere hands-only CPR training program.
“You can’t hurt a patient with hands-only CPR, you can only help them,” Ennis said. “Just pushing hard and fast on the chest can improve survival significantly.”
Guided by Ennis, students will teach the technique at trainings sponsored by the Central Massachusetts AHA chapter during large community events, including the opening game of the Worcester Bravehearts baseball team.
“Throughout the year we will be traveling to various colleges, public schools and community events to teach hands-only CPR,” Grace McKay-Corkum, SOM ‘19. “We’re excited about this great way to give back to the community.”
Students will also provide hands-only CPR training at the Multi-Cultural Women’s Health Summit on Saturday, June 18. Hosted by UMass Medical School and UMass Memorial Medical Center, the event is free and open to all women.
The School of Medicine established the Learning Communities in 2010 to facilitate interaction, cooperation and team learning among medical students. Each of the five houses—Blackstone, Burncoat, Kelley, Quinsigamond and Tatnuck—includes students in all four class years. These social and academic homes are overseen by faculty mentors, who act as advisers, teachers and career development coaches.
Conceived as a legacy project that can be sustained in future years by future students, the hands-only CPR community service initiative follows in the footsteps of the Kelley Backpacks project. Kelley Backpacks was the first project of its kind established by a learning community at UMMS.
