Westfield Lions Foundation partners with Westfield Fire to provide life-saving training

By STU CLAPMITT
news@readthereporter.com

The Westfield Lions Foundation and Westfield Fire Department have begun a partnership to save lives by offering free CPR training and certification. The first round of that training was on Sunday, July 12 at the Westfield Lions Foundation Clubhouse, 1101 E. 169th St.

This session was exclusively for Lions as a way to make sure everything will be perfect when this program opens to the public later this year.

Thida Donel (left) and Walter Rippy, III of the Westfield Fire Department. (Reporter photo)

“This was our inaugural test run,” Westfield Lions Foundation Board President Mike Birk told The Reporter. “It was done with all Lions. We wanted to get the pulse and see what worked and what didn’t work. It was a full CPR certification class that was run with an approved American Heart Association training course.”

Westfield Fire Department (WFD) Community Paramedic Walter Rippy, III and WFD Community Risk Reduction Specialist Thida Donel provided certification training.

While Rippy and Donel were careful to show trainees how multiple manufacturers’ AED (Automated External Defibrillator) devices function, the equipment on hand at the Foundation Clubhouse exactly matches the equipment used by the Westfield Fire Department.

Reporter photo

Reporter photo

Keep reading The Reporter for details on how you can sign up for the first public CPR course, which will be offered at no cost later this year.

The Westfield Lions Foundation, the Club’s 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For more information on the Westfield Lions Foundation, including how your donations could be tax deductible, go to WestfieldLionsFoundation.org.

For more information on the Westfield Lions Club, how to become a member, and how to rent their community center, go to WestfieldLions.org.

Reporter photo

Reporter photo