You’re alone walking across campus and you see a student lying on the floor, unresponsive. What do you do? Would you wait for someone to help or would you leap in and act? Even during situations where someone’s life is on the line, you might hesitate. According to the American Heart Association, only 2.4% of people in the US are trained annually in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This statistic could change drastically if more people became exposed to CPR training, and San Marcos High School allows just that. Over 120 students have been trained and certified in CPR on this campus just within the month of April.

“I think [CPR and first aid training] is important because there’s a potential to help assist or save someone’s life. If there are more of us that are trained to do that I think the likelihood of survival will increase, so that’s an important skill to have to potentially help someone live,” said Health Essentials I teacher Huy Nguyen.

Health Essentials I is an elective and Career Technical Education (CTE) course here at San Marcos High School that allows students to gain knowledge about the basics of a career in healthcare. During unit four of this course, students learn about technical skills such as using a stethoscope, taking vitals, first aid, and CPR. This unit allows Health Essentials I students to learn about CPR in depth and become certified during school hours at no cost, allowing flexibility. About 70 students have received their certification in this course, making up a majority of the total number of students certified at this school.

“When I was talking about first jobs with my mom I was always talking about babysitting, so my mom was always talking about getting me CPR certified but we never really had the time between everything else going on with school,” said Health Essentials I student junior Izzy Garcia. “I think it was very convenient [to become CPR certified during school] because I know a lot of students have a lot of things going on in their lives and doing it during class gives you the time.”

Students are CPR certified through Health Essentials I annually, but a new program is giving opportunities to students outside of health courses. This new program is called the San Diego North Army Recruiting and San Diego Army Reserves CPR Certification Training. 

The San Diego North Recruiting personnel came to SMHS twice this school year and taught the basics of CPR to the San Marcos High School Air Force JROTC cadets. Even though this program takes place during AFJROTC zero period, it is open to any student on campus. This gives everyone an opportunity to learn and become CPR certified during school.

“The CPR program was started in part to offer schools a service in return for the opportunity to come and talk to students and present the career pathways that the Army has,” said First Lieutenant Noah Michaelec, the Recruiting Operations Officer, “When you’re young and in high school it is the perfect time to learn because you never know where you’re going to end up going or what career path you’re going to take.”