BY Sarah smith
ssmith@parkrapidsenterprise.com
A heart attack scare last month on a Park Rapids golf course has intensified efforts throughout the community to be prepared for emergencies.
Today (Saturday) a community course in CPR will be offered at Hubbard First Responders’ headquarters at 1100 Birch Avenue in Park Rapids, the home of the former Belle Taine Glass store,
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“Hands only” CPR will be taught. A new school of First Aid thought is that if bystanders can administer chest compressions quickly, mouth-to-mouth breathing may not be necessary.
Training sessions begin at 10 a.m. and run every hour through 3 p.m. It’s free and open to the public.
At Headwaters Golf Club in Park Rapids a defibrillator arrived this week.
Concerned golfers raised $2,000 to get the life-saving machine installed at that course. Defibrillators are springing up in many public places and are easy to use. They administer a shock to someone in cardiac distress.
“Years and years and years ago we had somebody die on the course that had a heart attack but that was way before defibrillators,” said Headwaters manager Jeff Anderson.
The course hasn’t has an incident in decades, but that didn’t stop the drive for funds.
A training session will be offered soon, Anderson said.
“It’s a priceless thing, definitely,” Anderson said.
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“If you save one life that’s worth a million.”
Anderson said a group of male players and a woman’s league group quickly raised the funds.
At Eagle View Golf Course, where the man suffered his cardiac arrest in August, owners Jeff and Kathy Brose said they are talking about purchasing a defibrillator.
Kathy Brose, who is a nurse, raced to the 17th tee box to help some golfers administer CPR on the day of the man’s heart attack.
