It's Heart Health Month and students in central Wisconsin are putting their hearts into saving others.
Jo Bailey is the physical education teacher at DC Everest Senior High, and on Friday, she taught her students an important lesson.
Hands only CPR can be life saving if done correctly.
"You never know when you're gonna come across somebody who needs help and it could quite often be someone you know and ultimately we want everybody to have the knowledge and the skills and be willing to try and help in that situation," said Jo Bailey.
If someone should go into cardiac arrest, they know their students are prepared to handle that situation.
"Yeah I'm confident that we've got another great crew of students that are ready and hopefully able to help in case the need arises," said Bailey.
Students in the district are required to learn hands only CPR and how to use an AED by the time they graduate high school.
"They get training in seventh grade and then we revisit it in 10th grade and they get hands on practice, our students learn hands only CPR and if they can just remember push hard push fast get things going as soon as possible," said Karen Wegge, K-12 physical education coordinator.
There are 23 AEDs throughout the district, along with a few additional portable AEDs.
While they said they're grateful that they don't need to use them often, they said it never hurts to be prepared.
"I think it's a good plan for our students and then also knowing that our staff had that comprehensive training for the full certification CPR," said Wegge, "I believe the more people are trained, the better outcomes we will have and we will train as many people that we can."
They're willing to train anyone, from students, teachers, district staff, and even bus drivers.
