In-person classes are canceled, but hands-only CPR continues online in Howard Co.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Cardiac massage.(Getty Images/iStockphoto/Mihajlo Maricic)

Most CPR classes have been canceled to avoid close contact during the coronavirus pandemic, but one Maryland fire department has taken their trainings online.

Learn how to save a life from the comfort of your home. That’s what the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services is hoping residents will do with their children with their online CPR training while in-person classes are on hold.

The classes teach hands-only CPR, which show how to help someone going into sudden cardiac arrest without mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, a helpful skill during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the American Heart Association, less than one-third of those who suffer cardiac arrest at home, work or in a public place receive CPR. As a result 400,000 people die each year in the U.S., they say, because bystanders don’t know how to perform CPR.

The training through Howard County also covers Maryland’s Good Samaritan Law, which protects those trying to help a victim at the scene of emergency.

The American Red Cross also provides tips online for those wanting to learn hands-only CPR.

The free, non-certification sessions are on Oct. 28, Nov. 7 and Dec. 3.

The Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services is also offering online adult, child and infant CPR training on Oct. 20, Nov. 17 and Dec. 17.

Find out how to register online on Howard County Government’s page.


More Coronavirus News

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.

Valerie Bonk

Valerie Bonk started working at WTOP in 2016 and has lived in Howard County, Maryland, her entire life. She's thrilled to be a reporter for WTOP telling stories on air. She works as both a television and radio reporter in the Maryland and D.C. areas. 

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