(Pictured above, L-R: Seventh-grade teachers Cat Harris, Lynn Landry, Jenn Leavitt, Jessica Maynard, Britney Letizio and Dan Vorio)

Mike and Marguerite Haaga have taught CPR classes for over 30 years, with Marguerite gauging her experience closer to 40 – dating to 1981 when she attended the University of Connecticut. However, over that period, neither member of the Killingworth Ambulance Association’s husband-and-wife team led a CPR class at a Killingworth school.

That is, until last week.

That’s when the two appeared at the Killingworth Intermediate and Middle School’s auditorium to bring CPR to a class of … well, teachers, all from the Middle School’s seventh grade. The course was held on April 1, with an 88-minute session devoted to practicing emergency life-saving techniques. When the class concluded, the Haagas were as satisfied with the results as their students.

All seven were certified.

“I hope this is the beginning of being able to start teaching at the school level,” said Marguerite Haaga, an EMT and vice president of the KAA. “We’d love to have more teachers involved because you never know when you’re going to have a medical emergency, like somebody choking or, heaven forbid, a cardiac arrest.”

While teaching the course at a school was a first for the Haagas, it wasn’t the first time the KAA coached life-saving skills there. Several years ago, it initiated Stop-the-Bleed classes for staff and teachers at all levels of Haddam-Killingworth schools. Plus, the KAA has conducted local CPR classes for decades, including sessions at the association’s Route 81 headquarters.

The subject took on national significance two years ago when, on Jan.2, 2023, Buffalo Bills’ defensive back Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest in the first quarter of a nationally-televised game with Cincinnati. He was revived on the field by Bills’ trainers administering CPR and later recovered.

For Don McDougall, a former KAA board member and EMT, that event heralded the value of CPR to an audience of millions … and McDougall should know. He taught a CPR class with the KAA for years.

“People ask: Why should I take it?’ “ he said then. “Well, because the great percentage of heart attacks happen at home, and you could be the only person there. If you call an ambulance, it could be 10-15 minutes before somebody gets there. In the meantime, you could be saving a loved one or family member.”