Pierce is Prepared recently held a special Lunch and Learn event in cooperation with the Pierce County Chamber of Commerce and Memorial Satilla Health.
Members of the local community and representatives of different businesses and organizations came together learn how to administer the lifesaving drug Narcan, the basics of hands-only CPR and the early signs of a stroke.
“After Helene, we realized it was time for Pierce to be prepared for hurricanes— and more than hurricanes,” said Pierce Family Connection Director Stephanie Bell, one of the founders of Pierce is Prepared.
After a lunch of homemade basil chicken alfredo, caesar and Italian salad, herb buttered Italian bread, fresh fruit and a lemon blueberry cheesecake dessert courtesy of Bell, those gathered heard a presentation from Memorial Satilla’s Safety and Emergency Management Coordinator Santo Nino, Pierce County’s former fire chief.
Nino provided a variety of key facts, such as CPR is the number one life saving intervention in the U.S., Narcan will not harm someone even if administered to a person who is not overdosing and stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in this country.
Packages of Narcan nasal spray were distributed to all present and instructions given for how to properly administer the lifesaving drug.
“Narcan has saved so many lives it’s unreal,” said Nino before moving on to the CPR portion of the course.
A special practice dummy was employed. Plugged into the wall, a series of lights beneath its plastic “skin” indicated when the proper flow of oxygenated blood was being achieved though hand compressions. The timing of the compression was done to an appropriate tune, “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, the tempo of which matches the 100-120 beats per minute needed for successful CPR.
What might have seemed missing was “rescue breathing”, but Nino explained the hands only CPR method was safer for non-EMS personnel due to the possibility of contamination or transmission of pathogens and even narcotic substances in cases of overdose. Nino also explained the action of hand compressions serves to circulate oxygen already in the bloodstream until help with special equipment can arrive.
At the end of the lunch and learn event, 14 individuals, representing Unison, Prime South Bank, Steel and Metal Systems and RDI, Affinis Hospice, the Okefenokee Golf Course, Pierce County Library, Southeast Health District, Pierce Senior Center and The Blackshear Times left better equipped and prepared to assist their community. Nino and event organizers, Christi Pitts and Stephanie Bell encourgaed everyone to share what they had learned.
