Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
BEACON AMBULANCE Operations Manager Randy Forstrom demonstrates CPR technique to Ironwood JROTC members, clockwise, Ricky Morrison, Robert Garrison and Mary Leopold.
IRONWOOD -Beacon Ambulance Operations Manager Randy Forstrom was at Luther L. Wright on March 20 and March 23 to teach members of the district's high school JROTC program CPR and how to use the defibrillators in the school.
The school's curriculum requires that members of its JROTC program receive first aid training, however, 1st Sgt. William Murphy - one of the program's instructors - decided to have the students learn more than the required minimum.
"Instead of just teaching first aid, what we've done is gone a little above and beyond and and got them certified in CPR," Murphy said.
Several of the cadets who participated in the lessons found them informative and appreciated the change from traditional lectures.
"The hands-on (aspect) made it exciting," said sophomore Ronnie Nygard.
Lt. Col. William Azbill, who also runs the school's JROTC program, also appreciated the value of hands-on experience.
"The hands-on experience is, by far, the best way to learn," said Azbill.
Those who participated in the training - roughly 60 of the program's 68 cadets according to Murphy - are certified in both CPR and the use of the school's automatic external defibrillators.
The certifications last for one year, according to Azbill.
