HAMBURG, N.Y. — The EMS Chief for the Lake Shore Volunteer Fire Department, Stacy Flick, has a straight forward belief when it comes to CPR training.
"Everybody should know CPR," Flick said.
After Bills Safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on field from cardiac arrest, the Lake Shore Fire Dept. realized they could quickly turn that tragedy into action.
"Our company is sponsoring a two year certification," Flick said. "We are doing AED, CPR, infants, adult and child training.
For Department Chief Paul Wilson, opening up the training to the public is personal, as a member of his crew needed CPR in 2020.
"He was our EMS chief at the time," Wilson said. "After our call, he went down, went into cardiac arrest, then CPR."
"He's back, he's alive," the Chief said.
The "he" is Lake Shore paramedic Kevin Johns. He says he experienced extreme shortness of breath while returning home from an EMS call in 2020.
"I was able to pick up my microphone and call dispatch and let them know that I was very short of breath," Johns said 'Within a few seconds afterwards [I] collapsed and had cardiac arrest of my front lawn."
Johns colleagues were in the area and were able to respond quickly, within minutes.
Chief Wilson says the one thing they want to emphasize to the public is that getting to someone quickly in cardiac arrest is key.
"That immediate onset of the CPR is so important," Wilson said. "Our dispatchers are trained in it and they tell the family member or whoever called how to do CPR if they're not familiar with it."
But current Lake Shore EMS Chief Stacy Flick want's to ensure everyone knows how to do something.
"It's very important to know what happens when somebody goes down," Flick said. "Seconds count, and starting CPR, even if you don't really know how to do and you've just learned compressions can save a life."
Lake Shore has two CPR courses coming up on February 7 and February 20th. Currently there is a waiting list, but you can email chief@lakeshorefire.com to have your name added. Lake Shore fire will also be posting updates and possibly new dates on their Facebook page.