Harmon CPR Challenge Part 2 Announced

Volunteers from the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps and a Newtown consulting firm that provides emergency training have announced the next opportunity for residents to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as well as how to use emergency external defibrillators. The second public training session is part of the ongoing Hearts for Harmon CPR Challenge that is being conducted in memory of The Newtown Bee’s late sports editor Kim Harmon, who died following a heart attack in December 2007.

Volunteers have already trained two dozen town residents and staff during the 2009 Hearts for Harmon community health fair that was held at Edmond Town Hall in March. Thanks to a grant from Newtown Savings Bank, organizers were able to purchase 100 American Heart Association CPR Anytime training kits, which were given to those taking the 50-minute course.

Participants also pledged to use the kits to train ten or more additional friends or family members in the coming year, according to event organizer John Voket, Newtown Bee associate editor and longtime friend of Mr Harmon.

“The ultimate goal of the CPR Challenge is to impart these vital life-saving practices to more than 1,000 local residents before next year’s Hearts for Harmon health fair,” Mr Voket said. “Kim worked so hard making heroes out of so many young sports participants in his years working at The Bee. Now, in his memory, we can train more than 1,000 potential heroes who will be equipped to save lives through this amazing 50-minute course.”

Former Newtown Ambulance chief Liz Caine and Laurie Viellette, another ambulance volunteer who owns the training firm Rescue Ropes, are continuing to work with Hearts for Harmon co-chair Cody Foss to hold the free training session at The Fitness Loft on Simm Lane, just below Newtown Car Wash, on Saturday, April 25 from 10:45 to 11:30 am.

In the spirit of this communitywide activity, several other health and fitness businesses have stepped up to help sign up participants who want to take the CPR Challenge April 25. Anyone interested in participating, who is age 12 and older, can sign up for the training at The Fitness Loft, as well as Joanne’s Fitness Studio, Yoga Dimensions, The Graceful Planet and The Inspired Body.

Organizers are asking participants to make a nominal $10 donation to the American Heart Association to participate in the April 25 session. In exchange, each participant will go home with the training kit, which costs $45 if purchased individually from the Heart Association’s vendor.

“Thanks to the Newtown Savings Bank and Hearts for Harmon, participants will be able to share the life-saving training with friends, co-workers and family members,” Ms Viellette said. “They can save the $45 by making a tax deductible $10 donation to the AHA. Signing the CPR Challenge pledge is an inspirational component that encourages participants to share their CPR skills with ten or more people in the coming year.”

The CPR Anytime kit includes a training manikin, instruction DVD and guidebook. Anyone wanting to make a separate donation directly to the Harmon Family Fund can do so through the Newtown Savings Bank Main Street headquarters.

For more information, contact Mr Voket at 203-509-2246 or email john@thebee.com.