At least once a year we hold a Community CPR/AED class here in Monument, the goal being to encourage community members the opportunity to come and learn the basics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator use for no cost in a low stress environment.

In communities such as ours and many others in Grant County, I feel the more folks who know this potential life saving skill, the better. As part of what I do as a volunteer on the Monument ambulance, I offer my capacity as a CPR instructor to teach such a class.

Sylvia Cockrell of the Monument Service Club is instrumental in organizing this event and makes it even more rewarding by always cooking and serving a delicious luncheon to participants, also free of charge. She goes above and beyond to advertise the class, making sure as many people in our own as well as surrounding communities are aware of the event.

Our latest class saw 10 people participating and it was a grand group of folks!

I would like to credit Sylvia once again for organizing this event and applaud all those who attended, plus the fine folks who have contributed to our fundraising efforts over the years. The support has allowed us to establish a PAD – Public Access Defibrillator – program here in the Monument/Kimberly area. We are fortunate in having seven such devices scattered in public places as well as the Columbia Power Co-op, which now carries an additional five AEDs in their service rigs.

As an EMT and community member, I feel encouraging folks who come to such as class become more aware of the reason why jumping in and starting CPR even as a bystander is so important, will ultimately give any person who suffers a sudden cardiac event that much more of a chance to survive.

Monument resident Rose Howe is a CPR instructor and EMT with the Monument ambulance.