South Jackson Community Center and the American Red Cross Partner to Save Lives

JACKSON, Tenn. - After Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest, people in Jackson wondered “Can something like that happen here?”.

That’s why the American Red Cross has partnered with the South Jackson Community Center to hold several hands-only CPR training for the community.

“It can help people recover from all kinds of issues that they have, for example the football player that had that issue on the football field. People there were trained and he’s making a recovery and that’s why we’re here, to get that into the community.”

Disaster program manager Brandy Rhodes believes it is important for people to be CPR trained in case of an emergency.

At the hands only CPR training, you can expect to learn what to do in emergency situations, get started with CPR, and act out real-life demonstrations.

“It can happen anywhere, at any time unexpectedly, so the more people we have trained that can do the compression only, the more chances we have to save lives out in the community, and also in your own home.”

Recruitment specialist Wanda Doyle knows that in emergency situations, every minute counts.

“A lot of times when you call 911 it may be over five minutes before the emergency personnel gets there. It has been shown that if you start immediate compression, there’s a higher percentage of saving their life.”

Another CPR training class will be held tomorrow at the South Jackson Community Center from nine a.m. to ten a.m. The class is free and no registration is needed. if you’re interested in CPR certification, you can visit redcross.org/takeaclass.