Contributed Article

 Recently, Brenda Altman, RN, Educator at McLeod Dillon, taught First Aid and CPR to Girl Scout Troop #228. Vickie Tompkins, Troop Leader, felt it was important to teach these skills at an early age. The troop consists of girls in the third and fourth grade. The following twenty-four girl scouts completed the course: Cayla Church, Jesselyn Byrant, Zoe Horne, Mckenna Bush, Sarah Tompkins, Jodi Lee Frost, Sarah Martin, Shayla Hunt, Emily Locklear, Sarah Grace Stone, Curry Stephens, Alayna Powell, Janie Altman, Nicole Watts, Haley Hayes, Sarah Grace Evans, Lindsay Hyatt, Samantha Lattymer, Anna Brown, Grace Hendrix, Jaqueline Reaves, Alex Tompkins, Emily Martin, and Brittany Powell. According to Altman, “First aid is the initial care given after an injury. “It is typically performed by a person until medical treatment can be accessed. Certain injuries do not require further medical treatment past the first aid care. “It generally consists of simple and in some cases, potentially life-saving techniques that an individual can be trained to perform with minimal equipment.” Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure for people in cardiac arrest or, in some circumstances, respiratory arrest. CPR involves physically pressing on the individual’s chest to manually pump blood through the heart, called chest compressions, and the rescuer exhaling into the individual to ventilate the lungs and pass oxygen in to the blood. “The main purpose of CPR is to maintain a flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and the heart, which are both the most essential organs to human life and the most vulnerable to damage from lack of oxygen,” said Altman. “Each of these Girl Scouts is to be commended for their eagerness to learn these important, life saving techniques,” said Altman.