TRAINING FOR LIFE

Central Penn Business Journal, Jan 26, 2007 by Reardon, Dennis

REGION

Firms focus on preparation for emergencies

Here's some heartening news: More Central Pennsylvania businesses than ever offer CPR training to their employees.

That was the word from representatives of two midstate organizations that provide the courses.

The number of area firms that have offered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) classes through the York County Chapter of the American Red Cross has heightened visibly since 9/11, said Victoria A. Connor, the chapter's director of communications and public support. The terrorist attacks of more than five years ago have led many employers to prepare better for emergencies.

Kathy A. Poffenberger, administrative assistant at West Shore Emergency Medical Services, cited a different cause of the CPR-training boom. Employers have grown more aware of CPR because automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have proliferated in malls and airports, she said. An AED is a machine that stops fibrillation - rapid, uncoordinated twitching - of the heart and restores normal heartbeat by giving an electric shock. West Shore EMS is part of East Pennsboro Township-based Holy Spirit Health System, which will offer a free CPR class Feb. 10.

The Red Cross' York County chapter taught CPR to at least three companies in the county - Kinsley Construction Inc., York Wallcoverings and Starbucks Corp. - that used it in the past six years to save people's lives, Connor said.

The chapter also runs a program called Safety Net with local businesses that drive fleets of vehicles throughout York County. The Red Cross teaches the drivers CPR, first-aid and emergency-response techniques to save lives. The drivers likely will be at accident scenes, Connor said. Participants have included Susquehanna Communications, Shipley Energy and Wagman Construction Inc.

L.S. Lee Inc. sends all of its employees to the chapter for CPR training, said Jim Baker, the company's superintendent. The West York-based guide-rail and sign installer sent 44 fieldworkers and several office employees Jan. 15. Half of the field workers received updates, and the other half went for the first time. The company has never had to use CPR.

"Our company is very safety oriented. We feel everyone should be as knowledgeable as possible ... The owners of our company don't hold back (money for safety training)," Baker said.

Glatfelter Insurance Group has more than a dozen CPR-certified employees, said Randy Hess, the company's technical director of risk-control services. The Red Cross trains employees of the York Township-based insurance broker. The firm informs its 460 workers of its CPR knowledge.

The business also has three AEDs.

Giant Food Stores does little CPRtraining. Of the grocery chain's 143 stores, 18 have child play areas named Tree Houses, said Tracy Pawelski, the company's director of public relations. Middlesex Township-based Giant provides CPR instruction for its Tree House employees but not for any other workers. The business doesn't plan to expand that training. The company mainly relies on emergency responders.

Generally speaking, workers in each department and on each shift need CPR training, said Susanne Lyden, the health and safety client manager for the Red Cross' York County chapter. The U.S. population is aging and becoming more susceptible to heart disease.

Businesses need AED training, too, Lyden said. And AED- and CPR-certified employees need backups to cover when they're out, she said.

A lot of companies prefer to have their employees be their trainers, so they can train at their own schedules, Lyden said. That's why the chapter offers "train-the-trainer" sessions.

BY DENNIS REARDON

dennisr@journalpub.com