CPR course for student-athletes started

There is a shortage of civilians who can help in cases of cardiac arrest. Hence, the student sports association Thymos, student volleyball club WaHo, and AED Foundation Wageningen have joined hands to offer Wageningen student-athletes a course in CPR.

Luca Smit (20), a bachelor student of Animal Sciences, is one of the ten students who joined the first course. ‘We learned how to use an AED and practised CPR on dummies. I really feel that I am now ready to help should I ever find myself in a situation where someone needs to be resuscitated.’

Smit is glad he followed the course. ‘You shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to follow a training like this for free. Performing CPR is an important skill that enables you to save a person’s life. I hope to never have to use it, but if the situation should arise, I am equipped to help.’

HartslagNu

After following the course, Smit registered with the Netherlands’ resuscitation network HartslagNu. Registered members are alerted if someone in their vicinity requires CPR. ‘A refresher course is sometimes required. The fact that civilians are required to pay for such a course is strange, especially given the lack of civilian assistance. This does pose a threshold for young people.’

Dirk Wevers (24), a master’s student of Molecular Life Sciences, is one of the project’s initiators. When he followed a course in CPR at AED Wageningen, he heard that too few people in Wageningen are registered at HartslagNu. ‘Thymos applied for funding from the Wageningen Sports Council so that the course could be offered free of charge. We are currently discussing options to offer a second round of courses after the Christmas break. All of the courses for this fall are already full.’

Seventeen

Wevers hopes to make Wageningen students aware that learning to resuscitate is a valuable contribution to society. ‘A little while ago, a seventeen-year-old boy collapsed on the hockey field in Wageningen. He survived, thanks to a rapid resuscitation. Ultimately, everyone benefits from a good network of emergency responders.’

Student-athletes wanting to learn CPR will have to wait and see whether courses will once again be offered free of charge in 2024. There is always the option of following First Aid courses with the Red Cross Student Desk. Read all about it here.

María Joaquina Acosta joined the first of the four CPR courses to take pictures.

Also read:

[The Propisition] ‘Every human needs to learn how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in school’

Forty student-athletes learn CPR