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Ohio, Marshall Co. Health Departments Offering Expanded CPR Training

The Ohio County and Marshall County health departments are joining forces to offer expanded CPR training opportunities this year.

The training sessions will be offered once a month, alternating between being located in Wheeling and Moundsville.

Now, there will be sessions on both heart-saver CPR and basic life support (BLS) CPR, which includes life-saving strategies for obstructed airways, cardiac arrest and respiratory distress, according to the American Red Cross.

Offering both kinds of training is a helpful new addition to the program, Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department Administrator Howard Gamble said.

“That is a big benefit because if you work in a facility you may be required to have CPR and first-aid training that’s covered under the BLS heading and we’re now able to provide that,” he said. “We have a lot of care facilities in our community that their staff need trained.”

In the past, Ohio County has worked with the Ohio County Emergency Management Agency to put on this training. This year the partnership with Marshall County will allow them to share staff and manage the expanded programming.

“It’s kind of a nice link-up with another county but county health departments have been sharing and working together on services for a long time, especially in our area,” Gamble said. “This was just one nice one where we could link up and kind of expand our CPR and first aid training.”

The classes, starting in February, only allow for a small group capped at six people, with heartsaver training in the morning and BLS training in the afternoon. However the program may continue to grow with demand in the future, Gamble said.

Though used frequently by healthcare professionals needing certifications for work, the classes are open to anyone interested.

“It can be anything from boy scouts to a professional who needs BLS for a certification for where they work,” Gamble said. “This is open to anybody. Anybody can get to it. And if they can’t get into our class they can always be referred down to Marshall County to get into their class and vice versa.”

The training will teach students how to recognize cardiac emergencies in different age groups and what actions to take in various emergency situations. Instructors will also teach the role and use of defibrillators.

The Ohio County classes will take place in the City of Wheeling Courtroom on the first floor of the City-County building, the first of which coming up on Feb. 13. The Marshall County classes will be held in Moundsville’s new Health Department facility, which opened earlier this month.

The Heartsaver CPR and first aid class is $50 while the BLS addition is $25.

Starting at $2.99/week.

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