Local CPR training group saves lives

Middle school teacher Kate Minton wasn’t exactly happy about having to stay after work one afternoon last fall. The school, Lindisfarne Hall, in Fernandina Beach, had arranged for the staff to take a class to learn CPR. Minton, a former Army medic who had learned CPR years ago, rolled her eyes.

“I was not excited about spending two hours after work,” she recalls. “I was thinking, ‘I’ll never use this.’ But then, two hours later ...”

Two hours later Minton and her husband, Phillip, were administering CPR at an Arby’s restaurant in Yulee, ultimately saving the life of an elderly woman. Now Minton is one of the many champions of a local, nonprofit organization called Hands4Hearts, which is dedicated to CPR training and promoting installation of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) around Nassau County. The organization is led by Jim Bollenbacher, a retired EMT.

“I’m thankful Jim has taken his retirement time to do this,” Kate Minton says. “He does this without compensation because he so wanted people to have this information to help save lives.”

Hands4Hearts is indeed making a difference in Nassau County, one student at a time. The group was launched in late 2022 when volunteers who worked in the Nassau County Medical Reserve Corps recognized a need for more CPR training in the community. The Medical Reserve Corps is a national organization, with local chapters, comprised of medical professionals who volunteer their time to help communities in disasters. For example, the Nassau County Medical Reserve Corps was instrumental in administering public vaccine clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When that vaccine program ended, I said, ‘Why don’t we become proactive? We have all these volunteers,’” says Bollenbacher.

Around that time, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed during a nationally televised football game and needed resuscitation on the field. The incident, Bollenbacher says, reignited interest in CPR around the country. About 400,000 people experience sudden cardiac arrest in the United States each year.

“People are becoming more aware of how random these things can be,” he says. “All around the country there is a resurgence of interest in classes.”

Moreover, in 2008, the American Heart Association issued new guidelines for CPR that do not require mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Studies have shown that blood remains sufficiently oxygenated for about five minutes after an individual experiences sudden cardiac arrest. Compressions suffice.

“The person doesn’t need more oxygen,” Bollenbacher says. “But the blood needs to be circulated to the heart and brain. Doing compressions buys us time until help arrives.”

The simplified training Hands4Hearts provides requires only an hour or two to learn.

“People have told us for a long time that they don’t want to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,” he says. “The technique we teach is so simple. It’s three steps. It’s easy and safer. It’s more effective for lay people.

“This class is not the life support class that gives you certification,” he adds. “This is for bystanders, the everyday person who may be confronted with this. The biggest piece of feedback I get from people who take the class is, ‘I had no idea it was this easy.’”

Minton agrees. Although she had received previous, certified CPR training, she was not aware that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was no longer necessary. That fall day after receiving Bollenbacher’s training, she and Phillip drove to an Arby’s for a sandwich before heading to their church for a meeting. It was about 5 p.m., and the only other customers in the restaurant were an elderly couple.

After placing their order, Kate noticed that the woman was lying on the floor with her husband trying to help her up. The Mintons rushed to aid the woman, who had stopped breathing. Kate, who had just undergone knee surgery, couldn’t kneel on the floor, so she directed Phillip to start chest compressions while she called 911.

“We had been talking about the class on our way to Arby’s and how CPR had changed,” Kate recalls. “I told my husband, ‘You have to do compressions.’ She was blue.”

Within minutes, paramedics arrived and transported the woman to the hospital, where she survived.

“My husband and I are people of faith. We definitely were supposed to be there,” Kate says. “It’s not a complicated scenario to give CPR. It’s an easy-enough process for people to understand. We all have the ability to step in.”

So far, Hands4Hearts has held 260 classes and has trained about 3,300 people. Hands4Hearts takes requests to schedule group classes. They also offer a class on the second Thursday of every month, at 6 p.m., at the county Emergency Operations Center. It’s not necessary to sign up in advance. Class information can be found on Emergency Management’s website.

Hands4Hearts trains many business, civic and social groups, including the Pioneer Sisters group, which recently held a training.

Around the country, communities that have invested in widespread training have lower death rates from sudden cardiac arrest, Bollenbacher says.

“The data is very clear on that,” he says. “The state of Arizona did this training — compression-only CPR — in the early 2000s. Their survival rate went up 168% over five years.”

Hands4Hearts classes are free. The group receives requests from many organizations, businesses and sports leagues around the county — from school staffs to homeowners’ associations. The group also works with county and local organizations to increase the number of AEDs and cabinets to house AEDs in Nassau County. Two Fernandina Beach churches recently installed AEDs.

“In downtown Fernandina Beach, there is one AED at the Visitors Center,” he says. “There is not another one until the tennis courts in Central Park. The data is really clear that doing CPR before the paramedics arrive can double or triple a person’s chances of survival. If you shock them, you double their chances again.”

Hands4Hearts endeavors to raise funds to add more AEDs around the county. The group also partnered with Nassau County to produce a video explaining their mission.

“We’re trying to do what we can with the limited funds we have,” Bollenbacher says. “Every park, every rec facility, baseball, soccer or softball field, should have AEDs. It will make a difference. It’s only a matter of time before one of our children experiences sudden cardiac arrest in one of our parks. If we don’t have an AED there to save their life, we’d probably get one the next day. So let’s get one in advance.”