Students moved into action Thursday morning after Lt. Jaime Snevely announced that their patient was unresponsive. They placed the pads of an automated external defibrillator on a mannequin’s chest before trading off on who was performing CPR and the bag valve mask technique, which helps provide ventilation to patients who are not breathing.
Through the task, the students were demonstrating their ability to identify, recognize and initiate treatment for a patient that is in cardiac arrest, said Snevely, a Hamilton County Emergency Medical Service training officer.
The Hixson High seniors then moved on to other classrooms at the EMS training center, where they practiced measuring and inserting oral pharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airway devices, which help keep a patient’s airway open, as well as worked together to dress a patient’s wound.
The skills practice was part of a new partnership between Hixson High and Hamilton County EMS that trains students to become emergency medical professionals.
(READ MORE: Hixson High and Hamilton County EMS form partnership giving students hands-on training)