Students in Chris McGrath's eighth-grade Health classes at Woodbury Middle School are learning the lifesaving skill of hands-only CPR.

McGrath was able to secure an educational training kit for students from the American Heart Association that includes inflatable manikins, instructional DVDs, padding for kneeling down, AED replicas, and an instructor's manual with assessments and informational material. At the end of the unit, students will demonstrate the steps involved in hands-only CPR in a written assessment and receive a certificate of completion.

The CPR is part of the heart health unit. McGrath uses meaningful discussions and life experiences regarding heart attacks and cardiac arrest as an integral part of the class, along with the importance of leading an active and healthy lifestyle. “Heart attacks and cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, at any time,” Mr. McGrath tells his classes. "There are things that we can control and things we can't. One of the things we can control is how prepared we are to handle a heart-related situation if it should arise." Students also learned what to do if someone is choking and where to find the AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) that are located throughout the school.