SMYRNA, Tenn. (WTVF) — Every fifth grader in Rutherford County Schools will end the school year knowing how to do hands-only CPR.
Students at Smyrna Primary School got the hands-on health lesson on Monday and Tuesday. Chest compressions done correctly on a teen or adult that's gone into cardiac arrest, preceded by a call to 911, will likely save their life.
"You just need something to pump that oxygen through and up to the brain, so doing those chest compressions gets that oxygenated blood where it needs to go," said Shanna Groom, health services supervisor for Rutherford County Schools.
Close to 1,000 people experience a sudden cardiac arrest every day.
The students were cautioned, doing CPR on a teen or adult could be challenging for them.
"It's going to take a lot of power, especially because we're smaller than the person we're working on, we're going to need a lot of power to push down," said Shelly Tilton, the school nurse.
The students said the CPR drill really tired them out.
"It's pressing hard," said one student when asked what was most challenging.
The adults in the room know from past classes that kids do take this seriously.
"We did have one nurse that I think was at Costco and she saw some of our fifth grade students practicing CPR on some pillows while they were at Costco, so it might have been right after our class. So, what we do they're learning and they're practicing," Groom said.
Tennessee and 37 other states have passed laws or adopted curricula requiring CPR training for students to graduate high school.
