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How to save a life: Free CPR training this week in Portland

There will be CPR training sessions Thursday at OMSI and Friday at the Oregon Zoo.

Kids and community members are getting some hands-on, lifesaving training this week both in Portland and across the country. It’s a part of National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week.

On Wednesday, students and staff at David Douglas High School in Southeast Portland learned how to save lives.

American Medical Response, or AMR, headed up the training. Instructors taught people how to do hands-only CPR. It's easy to teach, simple to learn, and can double or triple someone's chances of survival.

Emergency responders are also teaching kids and teachers how to help others survive in an emergency, like a school shooting.

It's part of a national campaign called Stop the Bleed. The idea is that if an emergency happens, bystanders will be equipped to help stop traumatic bleeding, say with a tourniquet, before first responders arrive.

Instructors said it can take between 4 to 6 minutes for someone to bleed to death. That’s why it’s so important to learn lifesaving techniques.

Students said they're learning simple steps that can go a long way.

"Especially with terrible events around the nation, school shootings, if you know CPR you can potentially save a friend or even a teacher," Thanh Tu, a junior at David Douglas High, said.

VIDEO: CPR training at David Douglas High in Portland

"Even with something small or big, no matter what it is, you can always help somehow," fellow classmate, Isabella Nguyen, also a junior at the school, said.

On Wednesday, AMR instructors were also at Clackamas Community College doing the same thing.

AMR will also be at OMSI on Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Instructors will set up in the lobby. It's free to drop in.

On Friday, they'll be at the Oregon Zoo from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. While the training is free, those interested will still have to pay the zoo’s admission fee.

The City of Beaverton also plans to host a Stop the Bleed training day on Saturday. There will be two sessions. The first is from 9-11 a.m., and the second session is from 1-3 p.m. The training will take place at the Griffith Drive Building, located at 4755 SW Griffith Drive.

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