People / Spotlight on achievers : Firefighter Brings CPR to Schools
As a firefighter, Val Santo has dealt firsthand with the loss of life that often accompanies disasters.
What nags at him, he said, is that many of those people might have been saved if only more people knew basic life-saving techniques, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
“In 16 years I have come across it less than 10 times . . . where someone on the scene knows how to perform CPR,” Santo said.
That inspired him to design a CPR training program that will be implemented in Newport-Mesa Unified School District high schools this fall. If successful, the program will expand to other school districts, officials said.
In the first year, Santo said, he hopes to certify 2,500 Newport-Mesa sophomores in CPR.
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