Group Wants Mandatory CPR Classes In Schools
Teen Helps Save 63-Year-Old's Life
POSTED: 5:53 pm EDT July 3,
2008
UPDATED: 6:29 pm EDT July 3,
2008
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BOSTON -- A near-death experience in a Newburyport clothing store this spring has brought an 18-year-old and the 63-year-old Lynnfield man whose life he saved together in a special cause.NewsCenter 5's Ed Harding reported that they want a CPR class to be a mandatory graduation requirement for every high school student in Massachusetts.
VIDEO: Group Wants CPR Classes Mandatory In High Schools"They said I had sudden death syndrome," Burt Carey said.Carey had just walked into John Farley's Clotheries in Newburyport on May 9 when the unthinkable happened. His arteries blocked, and he dropped. He believes that if a Newburyport High School senior who knew CPR had not been in the store, he wouldn't be alive today."I had just come out of the changing room with my tux on making sure everything fit standing over pool table and he just kind of collapsed," teen Derek Raschke said.Raschke had just completed a Newburyport High School requirement for graduation -- a CPR class. Newburyport High School is one of the few schools that requires CPR to graduate."I don't think I would have known what to do if I didn't have the class. You see CPR in movies but the actual way to do it is a little bit different," Raschke said.Raschke and his father worked on Carey until an ambulance arrived. Now, both families are united in getting a bill passed on Beacon Hill that would require that all high school students to complete the potentially life saving class.
VIDEO: Group Wants CPR Classes Mandatory In High Schools"They said I had sudden death syndrome," Burt Carey said.Carey had just walked into John Farley's Clotheries in Newburyport on May 9 when the unthinkable happened. His arteries blocked, and he dropped. He believes that if a Newburyport High School senior who knew CPR had not been in the store, he wouldn't be alive today."I had just come out of the changing room with my tux on making sure everything fit standing over pool table and he just kind of collapsed," teen Derek Raschke said.Raschke had just completed a Newburyport High School requirement for graduation -- a CPR class. Newburyport High School is one of the few schools that requires CPR to graduate."I don't think I would have known what to do if I didn't have the class. You see CPR in movies but the actual way to do it is a little bit different," Raschke said.Raschke and his father worked on Carey until an ambulance arrived. Now, both families are united in getting a bill passed on Beacon Hill that would require that all high school students to complete the potentially life saving class. Copyright 2009 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
