Members of Oxford High School’s robotics team, TORC 2137, are used to working with robots.

But last Wednesday, they got to work with a different kind of machine— one which could save lives in the event of an emergency.

Several Oxford Fire Department personnel came to the high school to give students a 30-minute crash course on Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of automated external defibrillator (AED) machines, which is a portable device that checks the heart rhythm and can send an electric shock to the heart to try to restore a normal rhythm.

Five minutes can make all the difference. In a presentation to around 20 students, Oxford Fire Department Shift Capt./Paramedic B.J. Stapp stated that if CPR began within five minutes “the probability of (the victim’s) survival increases exponentially.”

The event was organized by junior Angeline Hanser, who serves as the TORC 2137 safety captain.

“I thought it would be really helpful for our team to know how to do this because we work with a lot of electronics. A lot of the things that we use can put people into cardiac arrest and my job is to record those things and make sure that the team knows what to do and when to do it. This type of event and learning this type of AED training is beneficial for the team. I hope that they’ll know how to do CPR and learn all the AED supplies so that if anything ever happens to a family member or a friend or a colleague that they’ll know what to do and can help save lives,” said Hanser.

The ability to administer CPR and to efficiently use an AED machine would benefit everyone, according to Stapp, who said the Oxford Fire Department hosts regular CPR/AED classes.

For more information on available CPR/AED classes, visit www.oxparkrec.org.