Linn Valley residents Michael Vervaecke and Nikki Hale practice using a pulmonary resuscitator mask at the La Cygne CPR class on Saturday. (Roger Sims/Linn County Journal) Below, Klayton Parscale and Melissa Shroyer demonstrate how to resuscitate a toddler. (Linda Simons/Special to the Journal)
The Linn County Emergency Management department conducted two workshops on life-saving first aid that included cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Saturday, Jan. 28.
Instructors for classes both at Bunker Hill Community Center in Mound City and at the La Cygne Library were Linn County Sheriff's Deputy Klayton Parscale and Pleasanton school nurse and Linn County firefighter Melissa Shroyer.
According to Linda Simons, emergency planner for the department, 16 attended the morning session in Mound City and 13 attended in La Cygne.
Parscale said the classes could accommodate 20, and both classes had reservations for all 20 slots, but several people did not show up for the classes. There is no charge for the classes.
In addition to basic CPR, attendees also learned how to use pulmonary resuscitator masks, automated external defibrillators (AEDs), and perform two-person and team resuscitations.
“This is the first of the Free Community Learning Classes that will be offered to Linn County Citizens through Linn County Emergency Management,” Simons said.
The team of Rochelle Baker, from left, Wilma Wobker, Ron Sergent and Joyce Sergent perform a 10-minute team resuscitation exercise on a mannequin as Melissa Shroyer and a sensor in the mannequin follow their progress. They performed enough compressions to keep their "victim" alive. (Roger Sims/Linn County Journal)