Medical students partner with community organization to teach lifesaving techniques
Two future physicians at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine have partnered with Women for Women Pitt County to help equip local parents with the skills necessary to rescue a baby or child in an emergency.
With funding support from the local organization, medical students Rebecca Jones, Reena Patel and a team of their classmates are now providing free American Heart Association instruction in infant and child CPR and choking rescue as part of Vidant Medical Center’s curriculum for expectant mothers.
Left, Rebecca Jones. Right, Reena Patel. (Contributed photos)
Jones and Patel – former nurses in neonatal intensive care and labor and delivery,and Albert Schweitzer Fellows – developed a pilot maternal education program in 2016 as part of their fellowship requirements. Their Happy Hearts program trained hundreds of mothers how to rescue babies up to 12 months old, but participants often requested instruction in rescue techniques for older children, they said.
“As of 2017, drowning, suffocation, and choking were among the leading causes of death by unintentional injury for children in North Carolina,” Jones said. “Our original program was aimed toward infant emergencies, but Women for Women provided generous funding to expand the program’s community outreach by incorporating both infant and child CPR into the hospital’s perinatal curriculum.
“Our goal is to empower parents to begin CPR or choking rescue immediately, before EMS arrives,” she continued, “because we know that this dramatically increases the chance of survival.”
Grandparents, babysitters and other caregivers are welcome to take the course as well.
Classes are offered on the first and third Mondays of every month in the James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital Seascape Theater. Infant CPR is from 6-7 pm and Child CPR is from 7-8 pm. Registration is available online at www.vidanthealth.com/womens or by calling 252-847-4819 or 1-800-472-8500.
Women for Women Pitt County is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to give hope, change and a brighter future for the women and girls of Pitt County.
–For more information, visit www.vidanthealth.com/womens or call 252-847-4819 or 1-800-472-8500