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ARLINGTON -- Plastic dolls and heavy breathing took over Cowboys Stadium on Tuesday, as 4,626 people -- most of them Arlington school district eighth-graders -- learned CPR and broke a world record in the process.
The session broke the Guinness world record for the largest CPR training session and helped with Arlington's goal set by Mayor Robert Cluck in 2005 -- to teach 10 percent of the city’s population CPR.The previous record was set in Oslo, Norway, with 3,692 participants. In the 30-minute training session Tuesday, the students were taught "CPR Anytime," which focuses on the nuts and bolts of cardiopulmonary resuscitation: 30 chest compressions and two quick breaths.Arlington Assistant Fire Chief Don Crowson said the bare-bones system is effective and easy to learn.“Kids will actually pay attention to a short time frame in which they can learn very important life-saving information, and then pass it on to their friends and family” Crowson said.Nichols Junior High eighth-grader Stormy Alexander, 14, said she wasn’t sure she would be able to remember all the details.“I’d do my best,” Alexander said “but I’d probably panic.”Perry Watkins, 13, also an eighth-grader at Nichols Junior High, was more optimistic. He felt certain he could learn CPR by watching the video.“I’m a fast learner,” he said.“Everyone should learn it,” Watkins said, “because at a moment’s notice, if someone drops, you should learn CPR to revive them.”Crowson said the training emphasizes performing CPR until emergency personnel arrive.“The key here is, know how to do it ... and don’t be afraid to do it,” he said.“We think eighth-graders are smart enough, mature enough and capable of performing a life-saving skill and sharing it with others."The record attempt was part of Arlington’s CPaRlington initiative, which started in 2005 with the goal of training 10 percent of the city’s population within five years.
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