Restaurants in Massachusetts Receive Free CPR Training Through Heart Starters Program
A Massachusetts high school student is paying it forward to teach those in Massachusetts’ hospitality community critical life-saving skills.
Madeleine Jackman recalls a life-threatening incident she experienced at age 8. While dining out with her family at a restaurant, she began choking on a piece of steak. Luckily, someone at the restaurant who was a nurse saved her life by using the Heimlich maneuver and CPR.
Inspired by this act of kindness, Madeleine decided to help others by creating a Red Cross Club at Newburyport High School. The school launched a Heart Starters program, which provides free CPR training to restaurant workers in the community. This training program is supported by fundraising efforts and donations from local businesses.
“I’ve worked at restaurants in Newburyport where people have either choked or passed out from heat exhaustion or just have been overwhelmed and needed to sit down,” said Casey Baril of Olive’s Coffee & Bakehouse in an interview with WBZ-TV. “Having the actual tools in my toolbelt now to be able to assess the situation and see if someone needs help, I feel like will really go that extra mile.”
Laney Towle-Desroches of Olive’s Coffee & Bakehouse also noted how this training brings together everyone throughout the restaurant community to respond as a united front in the event of an emergency.
“I’m so proud of everyone who’s committed to this,” Madeleine said. “It’s just so amazing to see how this little idea grew.”
