WASHINGTON — Three years ago, Laura Metro’s three-year-old son was pulled unresponsive from a neighborhood pool.
Six months later, she formed the C.L.A.Y. Foundation because, “I never want any parent to have to take the helicopter ride I did.”
Metro’s son made a miraculous recovery, in part because a friend who had no formal training, performed CPR.
“He sorta did what he saw on TV, and it was that action that really truly saved him,” she says.
Metro, a safety-conscious mom, decided that all caregivers should at least know the basics of CPR–whether they’re parents, grandparents or babysitters.
Her foundation sought to present CPR training in a way that would work with active families’ busy schedules and tight pocketbooks.
Instead of an expensive five- to six-hour certified course, the C.L.A.Y. Foundation offers a one- to two-hour basic skills class.
“We decided to offer a format for families that was easier and very familiar,” Metro says.
“I am sure you have been invited to an in-home shopping party, a pampered chief party, something like that,” Metro says, saying instead, her foundation offers CPR parties.
She uses Gaithersburg-based Rescue One to teach party goers, and she pays them from the foundation donations.
Since starting the foundation, “we have so many requests coming in,” Metro says.
“It’s not okay for a parent to feel that level of helplessness, fear and desperation when this is something that is completely preventable.”
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