Bronx Teens Get Certified in CPR Training is an innovative service project designed to increase the number of teens certified in the life-saving technique taught globally. Sachi Penha, who at 16 is a certified life guard, a member of the First Tee and the LPGA Big Apple Girls Golf Program located at Mosholu Golf course in the Bronx, wanted to do something that she felt could positively impact her community.

“According to the American Heart Association- people who live in African-American, Hispanic, and lower-income neighborhoods are more likely than others to die from a cardiac arrest, ” said Sachi, “but when I learned that in fact African-Americans and Hispanic cardiac arrest victims are also 30 percent less likely to have someone stop and perform CPR, I was shocked. I mean, no one my age wants to think about this kind of stuff, but what if it’s someone you love?”

The teenager, who learned about the core values in her First Tee classes and participated in LPGA’s AXA Summer Leadership program for girls, said the program encourages participants to try to think big.  I knew I could to do something to change this.  She asked herself, “What if we set out to make sure teens had hands only CPR training, then maybe they would be able to do something important at a really critical time.”

Sachi wants to reach as many teens possible but knows that her program has to start small. She is confident that by working with First Tee and Girls Golf she can start small and share what she learns with kids in other programs around the country.

“It should not matter where you live; when someone you care for needs CPR, every second counts as you wait for emergency services to arrive. If we can learn how to provide a helping hand in our families as teens, we will more likely be able to help our communities when we grow up.”

Teens interested in the training, which will debut Saturday June 4th from 3:30 to 7 p.m., can reach out to LPGA Girls Golf Director, Roxanne Neilson bigtreesmallax@juno.com.

admin

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.