ODD JOBS: What a lifesaver
Respond Right teaches people lifesaving skills
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| Raymond Castile photo -- Donna Weiss, co-owner of Respond Right, demonstrates CPR on a training mannequin. |
Weiss and Toni Milan co-own Respond Right, a service that trains people in CPR, first aid, fire extinguishers and automated external defibrillator operation.
"When you perform CPR on someone in cardiac arrest, you are basically trying to revive a person who is dead," said Weiss, 38. "This could be a co-worker or loved one who has collapsed right in front of you. This can be very traumatizing to a layperson."Weiss' CPR classes require students to blow into a mannequin's rubber mouth and press its spring-loaded chest, practicing techniques demonstrated on a DVD.
"We show them where to place their hands, how to tilt the head, the correct rate of compression," Weiss said. "After people finish the class, they say they really feel like they could do this and do it right."
Like everyone who teaches for Respond Right, Weiss and Milan are paramedics. Weiss also is a firefighter.
Weiss said she and Milan started Respond Right in 2001 to address problems they observed as paramedics.
"We saw there was a lack of knowledge," Weiss said. "You would go into an office or nursing home and nobody was doing anything. Or maybe someone was performing a skill incorrectly."
The pair did not understand why more people were not taking CPR classes and other lifesaving training. They decided, as paramedics, it was up to them to do something about it.
Respond Right is based in the St. Charles County Economic Development Center, located on Mid Rivers Mall Drive. The business trains both medical professionals and lay people. Trainers conduct classes in offices, businesses, nursing homes and in the Economic Development Center. A typical CPR and automated external defibrillator class lasts more than three hours. Respond Right also helps nurses and paramedics renew their CPR certification.
"We had a nurse come in today whose CPR card expired two days ago," Weiss said Thursday. "In order to go to work tomorrow, she needed her certification to be current. We had a same-day CPR class with her. Now she has a current CPR card. Not many companies have the ability to accommodate someone who says, 'I need it now.'"
