The Malibu Foundation, The Malibu Community Labor Exchange, and Healing Urban Barrios collaborate to provide a free life-saving training course
CPR training classes can be difficult to access, especially in Spanish and in the City of Malibu.
The Malibu Community Labor Exchange, The Malibu Foundation, and Healing Urban Barrios held a free CPR training course over the weekend where about 30 seniors participated in hands-on training in learning life-saving techniques.
On Saturday morning, around 30 people attended the training and learned how to do basic CPR. Some also attended the previous safety preparedness training course that was held last September.
To perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), it’s recommended to do 30:2 ratio followed by two rescue breaths. Two-rescuer resuscitation on infants and children should follow a ratio of 15:2 or 15 chest compressions.
The CPR training course was led by Healing Urban Barrios (HUB), a nonprofit organization based in Lincoln Heights.
HUB provides intervention/prevention and re-entry services to youth/young adults, families and communities. It promotes self-love, self-worth, and self- recognition through a holistic approach using case management, restorative justice, mental health, cultural awareness and education.
HUB Disaster Preparedness Coordinator Diane Valero taught the training course and provided instructions in Spanish so participants could understand.
“We teach disaster preparedness, and within our grant (California Emergency Services), we’re able to teach CPR because we all have our facilitator ship through the American Red Cross and also have been certified through the Los Angeles Fire Department Program so all of our workers are able to facilitate thses types of workshops for everyone and give that information out,” Valero said. “Our whole goal is to make it to as many people as we can in LA County, and we focus on English as a second language, not just Spanish.”
“CPR is a part of that survival,” Valero said. “That’s what were finding, their priority is not that, their priority is just trying to survive everyday, so this is secondary to them and we want to change that, we want to turn that around and make it a priority.”
Despite nearly most of the participants being unfamiliar with knowing how to perform CPR, Valero was surprised to see everyone making an effort.
“They’re very interested in this, they’re all willing to give it their all, and that left a really good impression because it shows that their community needs this, and now you’ll have 30 people who are out there, helping other families,” Valero said. “They’re working in homes with children, adults, and [the] elderly, and they need to be able to take care of themselves but also whoever they’re assisting.”
Vakeri also demonstrated how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) on an adult and an infant.
“I love this group, I think they did great and they’re so admit about taking this CPR class,” she said.
MCLE Director Oscar Mondragόn said it was important for workers to have an idea of what to do in case of an emergency.
“It means a lot to us because these workers are either working outside in the garden or inside as a housekeeper, and for them to have knowledge of this type, thanks to the Malibu Foundation, we’re able to do it,” Mondragόn said. “The more they know, the better, having the knowledge is very efficient, and that’s why we’re here today.”
The Malibu Foundation Grants and Program Manager Scarlet Eskew said it was great to see people feel confident doing CPR on PRESTAN mannequins.
“It’s great because instead of waiting until you have to do it for real, you have the practice, you know what to do, and you’re confident,” Eskew said.
Eskew said some of the participants also attended the emergency preparedness workshop they held last year in September and said that class was a good introduction leading to this course.
“I asked a lot of people here and they came to that so it’s just building off of that, now they know the signs, what to look for and what to do — knowing is one thing, but physically being able to do it is another thing,” Eskew said.
Eskew said after they posted the Spanish-Language training course on social media, she received messages about where they could attend English classes, but they wanted to focus on having a CPR class for non-English speakers because not easily accessible.
“English is everywhere, there’s just not Spanish,” Eskew said. “If you’re looking for one in Spanish, they’re just hard to find, and they’re expensive.”
Each participant was also provided with a free survival kit backpack.
