Local first responders give H.B. High School staff a lesson in lifesaving

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Huntington Beach High School teacher Alex Spiegel learns how to perform chest compressions with guidance from Huntington Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeff Lopez during a Trauma for Teachers training program Monday at Huntington Beach High. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

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Children’s Hospital of Orange County nurse Tara Hanson shows Trauma for Teachers trainees how to treat serious bleeding on Monday at Huntington Beach High School. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

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Sophia Cendro, a Huntington Beach High School senior and city ocean lifeguard, came up with the idea of the Trauma for Teachers training workshop, which was conducted at the school Monday. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

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Huntington Beach Fire Department paramedic Drew DiPaola, second from right, instructs Huntington Beach High School personnel during a Trauma for Teachers emergency-response training program Monday. The program’s creator, student Sophia Cendro, looks on at right. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

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Huntington Beach High School teacher Heather Oberly trains in performing chest compressions with guidance from Jachin Hamborg of Huntington Beach lifeguards during a Trauma for Teachers workshop at the school. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

By Daily Pilot Staff

Jan. 31, 2020 2:58 PM PT

About 200 members of Huntington Beach High School’s faculty and staff learned the basics of bleed control and CPR this week in training designed by Sophia Cendro, a Huntington Beach High senior.

The workshop, called Trauma for Teachers, was incorporated into a staff training day Monday as a way to prepare employees to provide lifesaving measures before first responders arrive in the case of an on-campus emergency.

The Huntington Beach Fire Department and Marine Safety Division, with doctors and nurses from area hospitals, helped give hands-on instruction.

Sophia, 17, said she got the idea at the beginning of her junior year after her first summer working as a seasonal lifeguard at Huntington City Beach. She saw a chance to share the skills and preparedness she gained in the job.

“I was seeing on the news recent events of shooting threats and school violence threats and I remembered coming up with this idea,” Sophia said. “Why wait on it? This is a good time to start implementing in schools.”

School and city officials said they hope the program will be brought to more local schools in the near future.

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Local first responders give H.B. High School staff a lesson in lifesaving

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