< View All Stories

Providing Life-saving Training to Parents

8   people have liked this story.

July 15, 2015 | By WCCF

Genesis-Training

Soon-to-be parents use the manikins to learn CPR.

It's a terrifying situation. Your child needs CPR, and there's not a moment to lose. Thankfully, a local charity gave you the vital training you need to handle this crisis.

Since 1973, Genesis of Pittsburgh has been providing life-affirming programs and services for pregnant women, children, and adoptive families.

The Genesis Center in Washington provides free classes to pregnant women and their partners, as well as the parents of infants and toddlers. Lessons focus on understanding the growing child, protecting their health and safety, and developing positive discipline skills and strategies.

Monthly, Genesis offers an Infant CPR Class led by the American Red Cross, which utilizes infant-sized manikins, anatomical models of the human body designed for use in teaching.

Prior to WCCF Gives, Genesis owned six manikins in "fair to poor" condition. Renting these training tools often proved challenging since the class size varies from month to month. However, using its unrestricted WCCF Gives grant (totaling $3,409), Genesis was able to purchase eight new manikins - enough for a full class.

Genesis-Manikins

"We have had two known cases where our clients have had to administer CPR to their infants and both were successful outcomes. One of these infants was just hours old, and the parents were told by hospital personnel that they did the right thing and saved their baby's life," remarked Lynda Jucha, Director.