By Tim Leeds
The Bears Paw Chapter of the Red Cross (BPCRC) had a brand-new cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training dummy next to an older model Tuesday afternoon.
The National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation and the Montana Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) donated a new junior sized Resusci Anne training unit to the chapter.
A full-sized version was recently found in storage that the chapter had received on Dec. 15, 1966.
Tom Geelan, chapter manager of the BPCRC, said the 1966 model is in good shape and could probably be used just as it was 34 years ago.
Wes Stewart, field services director of the MADA, who came up from Helena to donate the new dummy with Craig Tilleman, Steve Steinmetz and Gary Reighard, Havre members of MADA, said the new junior sized Resusci Anne is valued at $1,800. He said a full-sized model is worth about $3,000.
Geelan said an invoice with the 1966 model showed it cost $163.
He said BPCRC hopes to use the new training dummy to show 450 residents of the area what to do when a person has a heart attack.
Geelan said if the proper treatment is given to a heart attack victim within seconds of the attack, there is a good chance that his life will be saved. He said the CPR unit is vital for CPR training.
Geelan said that since massive involvement of Americans being trained in CPR, there has been an increase in long-term survivors from ventricular fibrillation. The training takes from three to five hours of intensive practice and lectures.
The CPR unit gives signals telling when the trainee is applying pressure in the right spot or breathing correctly into the victim's mouth. The training shows the students the proper way to give quick, lifesaving emergency treatment.
The National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation is part of the National Automobile Dealers Association, with headquarters in McLean, Va. Its membership includes over 19,000 franchised new car and truck dealers in the United States.
