Paying it forward one breath at a time

See a need, fill a need.

Devon Leith, vice president and agent at Tyler Insurance, decided to fill a need in the Creston area, and engineered a pay it forward activity to benefit local citizens.

Free Heartsaver certification classes will be offered four times in the month of April, which includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED).

“It was on the way back from the state wrestling tournament, and I just kept thinking, ‘What if it had been locally, would the right people have been in the right place?’” Leith said. “I thought, ‘How can we make ourselves prepared for this? What can we do to be proactive and take advantage of the momentum of these conversations?’”

Leith decided to start a month-long program that included free CPR classes for people who hadn’t taken classes in awhile.

“A lot of us that are isolated from that (health services) industry, maybe we don’t take the time. It’s just one of those things that’s easy to put off,” Leith said. “So we thought, if we offered the free classes and forwarded the attention to it, we could get more people motivated.”

The certifications are being hosted by local insurance companies, as well as Greater Regional Medical Center and Southwestern Community College.

Up to 10 people can register per class. They are also hosting a free community CPR and AED introductory course for up to 100 people April 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Creston High School.

“Talking to the other insurance agents in town, they’re so generous,” Leith said. “Then the hospital and the reason SWCC is involved is that they do a lot of the educational outreach for the CPR training, ... and they were all over it.”

Local insurance companies involved are Tyler Insurance, American Family— Katie Turner, Carter Insurance Services, Farm Bureau — Joe Calvin, Hometown Insurance and State Farm — Ben Adamson.

The insurance companies are funding the certification classes, as well as the free introductory course.

“That (the introductory course) is kind of just what we decided to put together, in case someone didn’t want to make the commitment, didn’t really need the full certification, or just wanted to go for a refresher,” Leith said. “If your friend or family member went down, what do you do? It’s just to empower yourself a little bit more.”

The certification classes will be offered April 7, 14, 21 and 28 from 6 to 9 p.m. at SWCC’s instructional center in room 333. The classes will provide full certification for adult, child and infant CPR, and the use of AED.

CPR involves chest compressions and breaths if an infant, child or adult’s heart has stopped. It helps move oxygen to the heart and brain and prevent tissue death and permanent brain damage. The use of an AED is to restart the heart using electrical therapy via an automatic defibrillator designed to be simple to use.

The project is held in conjunction with SWCC Pay It Forward week, which is April 20-24. Paying it forward means to encourage positive behavior and service for the community.

Local citizens can also give a donation to Greater Regional Healthcare Foundation/AED, which is a fund set up to raise money for the purchase of additional AEDs to be placed throughout the community. Locations for the AEDs will be assessed through Greater Regional Healthcare Foundation.

“If there are different entities in the county, say Mayflower School or the Baptist church, ... you can put in a grant application, but you have to match funds,” Leith said. “There’s a couple different ways to do this. All we’re trying to do is get more placed throughout the community.”

Donations for the fund will be accepted at all training events and local insurance agencies through the month of April.

For more information or to register for the training sessions, call any of the participating insurance companies, or register online at www.swcciowa.edu/pifCPR.