Albany Police Department gets CPR training

ALBANY — Officials with the Albany Police Department, Albany Fire Department, Americus Fire Department and Darton State College collaborated to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training Tuesday afternoon at the Law Enforcement Center in Albany. Both sworn officers and civilian employees participated in the program, learning basic life-saving techniques.

“The purpose of this program is to give our officers and civilian employees the life-saving training they need in an emergency situation,” said Sgt. Schemika Foster of the Albany Police Department.

Tuesday’s CPR training course was overseen by Darton State College EMS Program Director Patricia Hotz, who provided basic skill developement and training for AED cardiac defibrillator operation.

Utilizing an instructional interactive video and actual hands-on particpation, the program covered adult chain of survival skills; scene safety and assessment; AED defibrillator and bag-mask device operation; team dynamics; pediatric and infant chain of survival skills; adult, child and infant choking rescue techniques, and other special considerations such as mouth-to-mouth, rescue breathing and opioid-associated life-threatening events.

“In emergency situations, seconds and minutes count,” said Hotz.

Along with Hotz, other instructors included APD Sgt. Schemika Foster, APD Cpl. Warren Ewings, AFD’s Tom Wilson and Sheniqa Robinson, and Reginald Harris from the Americus Fire Department.

“Police responders are generally the first ones on the scene before EMS,” said APD Lt. E. Duron Thompson. “We want our personnel to have the skills they need to react quickly and save lives.”

According to Albany Police Department spokeswoman Phyllis Banks, there have been several instances over the past few months in which officers had to administer CPR while on a call, but the officers involved declined to be interviewed, saying the life-saving efforts were in the line of duty.