(Pictured Left to Right) Paramedic & Instructor Robbie MacCue, EMT & Instructor Rose Metchick, Bill Sponsor Senator James Alesi, Averill Park High School Assistant Principal Cheryl Clark Health Teacher Olga Ashline, APHS Senior & CPR Advocate McKenna George and local Assemblyman bill supporter Steve McLaughlin
In 2009, the Sand Lake Ambulance began training students at Averill Park in CPR. In 2010, sudden cardiac arrest survivors Michelle Haller of Loudonville and Kelly Crupi of W. Sand Lake joined the ambulance company in their efforts.
In that time, we have trained 1,000 students in CPR. On Thurs, March 22, at 1:30 p.m., at Averill Park High School, 146 Gettle Rd., in Averill Park, Robbie MacCue of Sand Lake Ambulance, Haller and Crupi, along with representatives from the American Heart Association, honored the school for its accomplishment. Legislative sponsors of the bill, Senator James Alesi and Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, will attend if the Legislative session has adjourned for the week. Students who have learned CPR also gave demonstrations for attendees and the media.
“I was playing soccer when I suffered sudden cardiac arrest,” Haller said. “Thank goodness two women on the opposing team knew CPR.”
“I’m young and healthy, and had just come home from work, and collapsed with sudden cardiac arrest,” Crupi said. “My mother was right there, and started CPR immediately.”
“About 383,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest each year, and most of the time, it happens in the home,” MacCue said. “Kelly and Michelle are young and healthy, and still suffered sudden cardiac arrest. It can happy to anyone. We wanted to start training students in CPR so that they would know what to do if someone suffered sudden cardiac arrest in front of them.”
Survivors Michelle Haller of Loudonville, NY & Kelly Crupi of W. Sand Lake, NY teach and advocate for everyone to learn CPR
MacCue, Haller and Crupi all advocate with the American Heart Association for passage of the CPR in Schools bill, which would guarantee that every high school student in New York would learn CPR before graduation.
“Using the American Heart Association’s Hands-Only CPR method, CPR can be taught in one or two class periods,” said Bob Elling, paramedic and member of the Capital Region Advisory Board of the American Heart Association. “Starting CPR doubles or triples the chance of survival from sudden cardiac arrest. It’s critical that every New Yorker know this lifesaving skill. The American Heart Association congratulated Averill Park High School and Sand Lake Ambulance on having the foresight to build the next generation of lifesavers in the Capital District.”
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