Document text
Photo by Jim Craven Training from Lisa Park, center, helped Jack and Wilma Considine tailor CPR classes for RVers. Making life on the road a little safer Local couple offers RVers CPR training By Susan Jay Jack and Wilma Considine start their CPR classes with the same hit-where-it-gets-ya story. On Dec. 1, 1997, the Considines were in Blytheville, Ark. A woman in the RV parked next door started screaming. Jack ran inside, where the woman's husband had just had a heart attack. He shook the unconscious man and realized, "I can't do CPR." It had been 18 years since his last class. CPR for RVers Here are Jack and Wilma Considine's CPR tips for RVers: When registering in an RV park, find out which CB channel is monitored, and if it's monitored 24 hours. Where is the nearest pay phone and hospital? What is emergency response time? After hooking up your RV, test your cell phone. Set your CB to the park's channel. If you need help and don't have a cell phone, open the driver's window and beep the horn three times. Repeat. Inspect your RV to see where you have space to apply CPR. Take turns lying down and simulating CPR. Practice getting your spouse out of chairs, beds and sofas and on the floor. Stow a sheet of plywood to be used in case CPR has to be applied on a soft bed or sofa. Slip the wood under victim. The Considines' CPR course is designed by the American Heart Association. For information on these classes call the Asante Community Training Center at (541) 608-4148. The American Red Cross, Rogue Valley Chapter, also provides CPR training: (541) 779-3773. "All I could (think) was `I'll do it wrong,"' said Jack, a retired communication equipment salesman. The man never regained consciousness, and the Considines felt terrible. Their feelings of guilt, and worry that the same fate could befall them, inspired them to act. In the past 10 months, the Considines have taught 25 CPR classes and trained more than 320 RVers in Oregon, California and Arizona. Today there are more than 1 million full-time RVers on the road in America, including the Considines. Their need to know CPR is vital, because they often stay in remote areas, said Jack, 66. It can take 20 minutes or longer for emergency services to arrive at RV parks, said Wilma, 63. That's way too long. Brain cells begin to die four minutes after the heart stops pumping oxygen. Brain damage occurs after six minutes and brain death occurs after 10 minutes, Jack said. To address the needs of RVers, the couple adapted a CPR class to the on-the-road lifestyle. The Considines understand RVs have cramped quarters, and how important it is to know the location of the nearest phone and hospital. What's the result of their efforts? The evidence suggests it's been a big plus at RV parks, which normally don't have the personnel or equipment to provide CPR training. "Once in a while, you fill up a class, and they don't let you leave until you do another one," Wilma laughed. One fellow RVer credits the couple and their class with helping save his life. Edmond Lundberg wrote from Yuma, Ariz., where the Considines taught a class Dec. 17. That night, Lundberg felt pressure in his chest. The discomfort wouldn't go away. He remembered Jack and Wilma's talk about heart attack symptoms, and the denial most victims experience. After midnight, he decided to go to the hospital, where doctors found a blocked artery. "Thanks in part to you two, I'll be around for awhile," Lundberg wrote. The couple is able to teach these CPR classes because of support and materials -- including a practice mannequin -- from Asante Health System. "They can reach a whole community of people that many of us don't have an opportunity to reach," said Lisa Parks, education coordinator at Asante. Parks trained the Considines to be instructors, and she is impressed with the number of RVers they have taught. Once a month, Parks gets a call from the couple requesting she send more materials to where they're staying, or to their next destination. "We stay around until we exhaust the interest," Jack said. "If it wasn't fun we probably wouldn't keep doing this." They easily relate to their students, because of their age, their personalities and because Jack had a heart attack himself seven years ago during a business trip. They also have a knack for teaching. They met each other while they were dance instructors in St. Louis, Mo., 43 years ago. They moved to Rogue River in 1991 after Jack retired. They realized they didn't want to spend their retirement whacking weeds and mowing lawns. So they sold the house in 1996, and away they went in their RV. In May they'll leave for the Midwest in their 40-foot, Holiday Rambler Navigator. And no matter where they stay, they'll leave behind parks full of RVers armed with life-saving know-how. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA