After having the privilege of being able to assist in the
aftermath of the tragedy at the 2013 Boston Marathon, a few LSU athletic
training students needed to find some way to make peace with all they endured,
both physically and mentally. In an effort to make good from evil, they
spearheaded a new program whose origin came directly from the joint effort
between the Boston Marathon Medical Support Team and the American Heart
Association. This program called Hands-Only CPR, is a way to teach the basics
of CPR (mainly chest compressions) to anybody with the idea that a bystander can
initiate chest compressions…and that this act saves lives.
With the help of the Athletic Training Staff and donations
from our local medical providers, we were able to offer the first of many
Hands-Only CPR trainings to our incoming freshmen athletes. Tiger Hearts, a
program that allows our student athletic trainers and staff teach student
athletes Hands-Only CPR, has now been added to the LSU Summer Academic Success
Program that is facilitated by the Cox Communications Academic Center for
Student-Athletes. After going through
this basic training, our student athletes can assist in saving not only their
teammates life but anybody who may be in cardiac distress.
Derek Carter is the athletic training student that has been one of the
driving forces behind bringing this program to fruition. “We are happy to offer the Tiger Hearts program
to all student athletes. This gives them the skills to assist others in the
event of a life-threatening emergency. Our
hope is that Tiger Hearts helps to bring to light the importance of getting CPR
certified and to show that almost anybody has the ability to initiate care when
seconds count,” Derek said. Under the
supervision and guidance of our Program Director Ray Castle and Shelly
Mullenix, Sr. Associate Athletic Trainer/Wellness Director, our athletic
training students assisted in teaching our student-athletes what a truly useful and essential life skill this is. We
hope that the Hands-Only Tiger Hearts program becomes something that expands
into our LSU community and beyond.