Senior Safety Academy At Wellness Center In Rogers Provides Knowledge To Help Save Lives

SWIFT-WATER RESPONDER
Mark Clippinger wears his water rescue gear during his flood-event safety presentation on Thursday Nov. 14 2013 at the Seniors and Law Enforcement Together event at the Rogers Adult Wellness Center. Clippinger is a swift-water rescue instructor and the superintendent at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area.
SWIFT-WATER RESPONDER Mark Clippinger wears his water rescue gear during his flood-event safety presentation on Thursday Nov. 14 2013 at the Seniors and Law Enforcement Together event at the Rogers Adult Wellness Center. Clippinger is a swift-water rescue instructor and the superintendent at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area.

Wayne Launderville, 72, of Garfield, laced the fingers of his left hand through his right, placed his right palm on a dummy’s air-filled chest and pressed quickly and rapidly.

“Do you think you could do that if I fell over right now?” his wife Elaine, 66, asked.

The Laudervilles were among about 50 people at the Rogers Adult Wellness Center to learn about cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, on Thursday afternoon. The session was part of the all-day Senior Safety Academy where elderly people learn how to protect themselves, Center Director Lesli Ossenfort said.

Sessions this year included education about identity theft, scams that target elderly people, gangs in Benton County, water safety and CPR.

“This is all about getting them some information so they can empower themselves,” Ossenfort said.

The center holds an academy every fall and another academy rotates to other locations in Benton County during the spring, Ossenfort said. The academy is hosted by the Seniors and Law Enforcement Together advisory council for Benton County, also known as SALT.

The council is made up of community members who work with elderly people, elderly people and law enforcement, according to the brochure about the council. The council meets monthly to plan events and has hosted the two annual academies for the past several years.

The center has participated in the academy for about six years, Ossenfort said. The center has a membership of about 10,000 people and can get the word out to a lot of elderly people, she said.

The academy is a way to combat crime against elderly people, who often are targeted by criminals, Ossenfort said. Subjects included at the accademy change yearly, she said.

This year, Elaine Lauderville said she liked the swift water session because she had seen flooding this past summer. She learned not to cross floodwater and to wear a life jacket when boating, she said.

Nearby, Virginia Griesenauer, 82, of Rogers said she wished she had brought people with her to see the sessions. The academy was very informative, she said. She knew people who could benefit from what was taught, she said.

At 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Rogers firefighter Randy Chrisp corrected Wayne Lauderville’s CPR. Chrisp is also an emergency medical technician.

CPR has changed, said Wayne Lauderville, who used to be a firefighter in Minnesota and then for the Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire Department.

Chrisp showed Wayne Lauderville how to press the dummy’s chest in rythmic succsessions.

“You guys feeling pretty good about it?” Chrisp asked as he finished.

“I think so,” Wayne Lauderville said.

Elaine Lauderville, a former teacher, said the biggest change in CPR is that it doesn’t include breathing into anyone’s mouth anymore. The style firefighters taught Thursday is hands only, firefighters said.

The idea is to save lives by keeping the blood, which has oxygen in it, circulating, said Andrew Oehlert, firefighter-medic.

Griesenauer said the CPR and other sessions could teach elderly people to save lives. Her husband is in his 80s and has had heart attacks, she said. Now she knows how best to compress his chest, she said.

All the knowledge she learned at the academy is invaluable because anything can happen, Griesenauer said.

“You never know,” she said.

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