INDEPENDENCE, Ky. — A northern Kentucky fire department is trying to train up as many citizens as it can on something that can save lives.

What You Need To Know

  • The Independence Fire District is offering both free and paid certified training in CPR and Automated External Defibrillators later this month

  • One firefighter says people should take advantage to give their loved ones the best shot in emergency situations

  • In a typical year, the fire district trains about 300 people, but last year it was 900

  • The training event is on Saturday, Jan. 27, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Independence Senior Center

One firefighter says people should take advantage to give their loved ones the best shot in emergency situations.

Bryson Rieskamp, a firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician with the Independence Fire District, has trained a lot of people on how to perform CPR. He even trains people who go on to train other people.

That’s led to a lot of good outcomes in emergency situations. The Independence Fire District covers more than 44-square miles with three stations. Some calls take five to 10 minutes to arrive on scene.

“The reason we’ve had that good outcome is because we’ve either had civilian population providing on scene immediate care for CPR, or police that show up first and begin chest compressions,” Rieskamp said. “The survivability goes down every minute that you’re in cardiac arrest. So the quicker you can get hands on a patient to do chest compressions, the quicker you’re able to get them onto an AED (Automated External Defibrillator). The quicker the EMS is able to get there, the better the outcome.”

Rieskamp said Damar Hamlin being revived on a football field in front of millions of TV viewers increased interest in learning CPR and AED in a major way over the last year.

In a typical year, the fire district trains about 300 people. Last year it was 900, due in large part, Rieskamp said, to the fire district joining the Take 10 campaign. It’s an effort to quickly train people in about 10 minutes with the basics of CPR.

“Most important to us is making sure people get hands on one of the mannequins, and get that muscle memory going for how to provide CPR,” Rieskamp said. “If you pre-plan for a catastrophic event, your muscle memory will kick in. So just by doing two minutes of good compressions, it’s going to put that in the back of your mind. So when you do have to use it, if you unfortunately have to use it, that muscle memory will kick in.”

Still, Rieskamp said, there are far too many people who wouldn’t know what to do if a loved one went into cardiac arrest.

That’s why the fire district is offering both free and paid certified training in CPR and AEDs later this month. Rieskamp said he hopes as many people as possible sign up, so they can help other people on their worst days, which is the same reason he loves being a firefighter.

“If I do a 20-year career in fire service, and I’m able to save one person, then that entire time was worth it,” he said.

He also said he’s on board with efforts to get more AEDs in the hands of more people and in facilities like schools. However, CPR awareness is Rieskamp’s top priority.

“The more AEDs that are out in the world are better off for all patients, including us. We would focus more on getting those compressions in. So an AED is useless if we haven’t put the compressions before that,” he said.

The training event is on Saturday, Jan. 27, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Independence Senior Center. While the Take 10 training is free, the second part of the training costs $60, lasts two hours and provides a two-year certification.

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