August 27, 2019
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all state schools to close for two weeks to prevent spread of coronavirus. But Philly officials did not want to shut down the School District of Philadelphia.
The School District of Philadelphia and the American Heart Association have had an ongoing partnership aiming to train as many students as possible in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
To kick off this upcoming school year, the AHA gave 75 CPR education kits to the school district. The kits will help train 13,000 Philly students in the lifesaving skill of CPR.
The education kits inform students how to complete hands-only CPR. Pennsylvania recently became the 39th state to mandate such training as part of the state's high school curriculum.
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The district's health and physical education teachers will take part in a professional development day on Tuesday with the AHA to learn how to use the CPR education kits. During the school year, they will then teach students how to complete hands-only CPR.
CPR is a form of first aid that can be used in situations when a person's breathing or heartbeat has stopped, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The hands-only approach to CPR involves rhythmic chest compressions but not mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
