Fire department debuts community CPR training

Class gives the basics to help in an emergency.

Chad Warden, Laketown Township building inspector, learns CPR and AED lifesaving skills on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, at the Laketown Township Hall, 4338 Beeline Road. At left, Dave Grumney, Captain, Training & Health/Safety for the Graafschap Fire Department, leads the demonstration.

Members of the Graafschap Fire Department rolled out their hands-only CPR course on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, at Laketown Township Hall, teaching township staff members life-saving techniques, how to use an AED and handle basic wounds.

“We’re teaching people to do a little more,” said Dave Grumney, Captain, Training & Health/Safety, who led the first-time training event along with part-paid firefighter Zoey Hallam, who also works in the clerk’s office at the township.

If performed immediately, cardiopulmonary resuscitation can double or triple the chance of survival from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, according to the American Red Cross.

“These hands-only CPR classes are intended for the public to act as immediate responders to a cardiac arrest,” said Grumney. “We also add in some basic first-aid skills and discuss what should be kept in a first-aid kit. This education allows bystanders to take action and provides a force-multiplier for local first EMS responders.”

If your group would like to host the class, contact Captain Grumney at davegrumney@graafschapfire.org

Blood drive

Grumney would like to take the classes to community groups and plans to have a demonstration set up at the Thursday, Aug. 29, blood drive at the fire station, 4534 60th St. People are encouraged to take a few minutes and learn CPR.

The blood drive is 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

The blood drives started a year ago and have become so popular that they are now being held in the main bay of the station instead of the training room. That training room will now be set up to teach people CPR and how to use an AED.

Walk-ins are welcome, but appointment can be made at https://www.redcrossblood.org/  Enter 49423 as the zip code and find Graafschap Fire Department.

Brett Grams, facilities operations at Laketown Township, shows lifesaving techniques on a mannequin as Zoey Hallam, part-paid firefighter who works in the clerk’s office, watches on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, at Laketown Township Hall, 4338 Beeline Road.

Grants

The funding for teaching CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator came from a grant from the Community Enhancement Program at the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council. Two grants in two consecutive years funded the necessary equipment, including training mannequins (adult, child, infant) and AED trainers.

Those trainers mimic an actual AED but do not give the shock to the mannequin.

This program is an expansion of the fire department’s Community Risk Reduction program which includes weekly blood pressure screenings at the fire station, home safety inspections, rental inspections, and quarterly Red Cross blood drives at the station.

The program also continues a smoke and carbon monoxide installation program that is beginning its 11th year. Free alarms installed by firefighters are available to residents. These 10-year lithium battery alarms are provided by a state grant.