PINEVILLE, La. –Today, Cleco donated a CPR in Schools Training Kit™ to Lakeshore High School in Mandeville, La. to help students learn the CPR skills needed to save a life in the event they encounter a sudden cardiac arrest at home, work or in public.

The Kit, developed by the American Heart Association (AHA), includes manikins, practice-while-watching training DVDs and other items needed to learn CPR.  Additionally, the Kit teaches students how to use an AED and how to assist choking victims.  The Kit also is portable and reusable – one kit can train hundreds of students yearly.

Through Cleco’s donation, we’re helping students learn CPR and other life-saving skills before they graduate and increasing the number of qualified lifesavers in our communities,” said Scott Biggers, Cleco manager of origination and retail retention.

In 2014, the Louisiana Legislature passed the Burke Cobb Act which requires all Louisiana graduating seniors to receive hands-only CPR instruction.  However, the law is an unfunded mandate.

“We are so grateful to have partners like Cleco who value the importance of the Burke Cobb Act and our CPR school training program,” said Brittany Gay, vice president of the AHA of Greater New Orleans.  “Donations from organizations like Cleco empower more people to act in an emergency and provide the training and resources students need to fulfill the CPR graduation requirement.  Through initiatives like this, we are building a new generation of life-savers, one graduating class at a time.”

“We are extremely grateful to our community partners, Cleco and the AHA, for providing these CPR training kits to our students,” said Christian Monson, principal of Lakeshore High School.  “This donation will allow hundreds of students to receive hands-on CPR instruction in the classroom.  Through this interactive training, students will learn life-saving skills that they can carry with them throughout their lifetime.”

According to research, cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the U.S.  When bystander CPR is immediately performed, a victim’s survival rate can double or event triple. 

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