Did you know that Naperville’s Senior Task Force, in partnership with the Naperville Fire Department, offers free CPR training for seniors?
“Silver CPR” came to life when Task Force member, Rob Williams, identified a need within the senior population.
“I discovered that very few seniors had training or even knew what to do in a cardiac event,” said Williams.
Williams approached the Naperville Fire Dept to offer free CPR training to seniors and was met with full support of the Fire Department. Classes began in 2019, stopped during the pandemic, and resumed in 2023. At no charge to seniors, funds are covered by a Senior Task Force grant.
Classes are offered in conjunction with the Naperville Fire Dept at the Naperville Safety Town, but recently have expanded to offer remote training at senior housing communities where the Fire Dept brings all training supplies to the location.
Williams sees this instruction as an opportunity for growth to train more seniors. Remote training is effective because “people feel a sense of security with other people they know” when the training is at their housing community.
The response to the training has been positive, with Williams noting that, “about 80% of participants saying they didn’t realize how easy it was to learn.”
Upcoming Silver CPR classes will be held Feb 8, May 2, Sept 17, and Nov 20. To register, go to naperville-lisle-triad.org to join mailing list for information and updates, or email silvercpr2024@gmail.com.
For Williams, the real pay-off is changing the numbers, “the more people we get trained, the better the survival statistic will be.”
Carpe Diem!
