We are excited to present our 2018 Torigian Best Bet Award to Kathy Pingree and Patricia Gaffney for their program “First Aid & CPR/AED Certification.”
Wellness 3 students at PVMHS (typically juniors) receive instruction on First Aid and CPR/AED use during the health portion of the curriculum. Although students learn and practice the skills, they do not get certified as part of the class because the typical class size of 30 students per class exceeds the America Heart Association’s maximum student/teacher ratios of 8:1, which is required for official certification.
This Best Bet program “First Aid & CPR/AED Certification” offered an after school certification program to students who completed the classroom work and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get officially certified. Both Mrs. Gaffney and Mrs. Pingree are certified First Aid/CPR instructors, and they worked through the organization ‘When Seconds Count’ to get the official certification processed with the AHA. Needless to say, being certified in First Aid and CPR is a valuable skill, allowing students to act as first responders in emergency situations!
The program allowed Mrs. Pingree and Mrs. Gaffney to certify 32 PVMHS students in First Aid and CPR/AED. They ran 4 certification classes over the course of the 2017-2018 school year. Thank you to both Mrs. Pingree and Mrs. Gaffney for applying for this Best Bet program which strengthened our youth by providing the knowledge they would need in an emergency situation!