Carmi Rotary Club meeting
The Carmi Rotary club had a very important speaker on Thursday, as Diane Mason addressed the club on the need for CPR training and equipment in Carmi.
Diane started by telling the club that she has been with the ambulance service in Carmi since 1984 and has been teaching CPR for that same amount of time. She joked that there probably wasn’t a street or a house in Carmi that she hadn’t been in.
Diane told the club that the CPR mannequin she uses for training; she named the mannequin Annie, has had a long happy life, but that it is time for her to retire. Producing Annie from her carry case, it was quite obvious that Diane was telling the truth. Annie is missing one arm, both legs are broken, and the monitor system that tells the trainee if they are doing the procedure correctly is long gone.
Diane explained that to purchase a new training mannequin, the cost would be slightly under three hundred dollars. That cost also includes an AED trainer, which is also a much needed piece of equipment for our area.
The club also learned about the new defibrillators, which have heart monitors within their systems, which prevents anyone with a beating heart from receiving the electric shock. These units are now in place in Wal-Marts and at many local churches. Diane told the club that with no training at all, a person can successfully operate one of these portable units simply by following the instructions.
Diane also told the club the proper steps in calling 9-1-1. She said the most important thing is to try to stay calm. She said to be sure to give the operator your location, your name, and what you are doing (are you doing CPR, have you done mouth-to-mouth, etc). She also stressed the importance of leaving your phone on so the operator can use GPS to locate you in case your directions were not clear.
Diane closed with a caution to the club, that when performing CPR you have to realize you are not going to save everyone. It is very common if the person you are assisting passes away to second guess yourself and try to analyze what you did wrong, when in most cases, the good Samaritan did nothing wrong at all.
After Diane finished her presentation, the club agreed to buy the new mannequin outright. As Tom Logan stated, “If one person gets trained and saves a life, it is well worth the cost.”
In club business, Lyn Stephens handed out the new Rotary shirts the club purchased a few weeks ago. Randy Adams won the 50/50 but could not claim the day’s jackpot. Lyn Stephens was named as the day’s phantom. The Carmi Rotary club meets every Thursday at noon at the First United Methodist Church on Main Street in Carmi. Anyone wishing to learn more about this civic organization is welcome to attend a meeting or speak with any Carmi Rotarian.
