How Four Minutes in a CPR Class Can Save a Life

every 90 seconds, someone has a heart attack

FARGO, N.D. — Every 90 seconds, a person goes into cardiac arrest. On November 27, 2015, Patrick Schultz was one of those people.

“I was exercising at the YMCA with my wife and we came home and I was tired and sat on the couch and called out to her. Thankfully she came down, I passed out and she had to call 911 and do CPR on me,” Schultz said.

Schultz’s wife was able to save his life, a gift he says he’s still trying to repay to this day.

“I’ve always said I should get a t-shirt that says ‘what do you buy your wife when she saves your life? Anything she wants,” Schultz said.

Not everyone can come back from a heart attack and see their family and friends again.

That’s where the F-M Ambulance Service and West Fargo Fire Department come in.

“The way to do that is if we have early bystander CPR. In our region, only about 37 percent of bystanders will do CPR,” said Kathy Lonski with F-M Ambulance Service.

They gave free CPR classes at West Acres Mall to show that it’s not only easy to learn, but that spending four minutes training today can help a person become a hero tomorrow.

“When you see somebody go down, call 9-1-1 and press down hard and fast on the center of their chest. We deliver it from 100 to 120 beats per minute. Well, that’s not something you’re going to be watching your watch or trying to time it out,” Lonski said.

Thankfully, there’s a shortcut.

“Sing to ‘Stayin’ Alive.’ Pretty much any Bruno Mars song, the Imperial March from Star Wars, ‘Row Row Row Your Boat,’ whatever you can remember, that’s the right tempo that you want to be compressing,” Lonski said.

No matter what song you choose to sing to, people in the class say it’s important to remember why everyone should get the CPR training in the first place.

“It could be our own life we learn how to save or someone else’s,” Iesha Santini said.