A group of UMass Chan Medical School students provided hands-only CPR and AED training to nearly 50 parishioners at St. Anne Parish in Southborough last week, as part of a pilot partnership with the Diocese of Worcester.
The program, “Sabato’s Life Savers,” is named after the late Joseph Sabato, MD’79, associate professor of emergency medicine and a passionate advocate for teaching CPR, who died in July. The goal of the program is for T.H. Chan School of Medicine students to provide CPR and AED training in more than 75 parishes in the Worcester Diocese.
The program is coordinated by Abigail Lopes, clinical research coordinator in emergency medicine at UMass Chan and a UMass Amherst Master of Public Health student; and third-year medical student Beatriz Bacelar, who is spending a year in clinical research under Chad Darling, MD, professor of emergency medicine.
“As medical professionals, it’s important to be community leaders, and bring the tools and skill sets needed to help save lives,” Bacelar said. “This training program is about empowering communities to take responsibility for their safety, and learning to initiate CPR right away can significantly impact survival rates during cardiac arrests.”
The 60-minute training session at St. Anne was led by third-year medical student Erin Hurley and included instruction on recognizing and responding to signs of cardiac arrest, practicing hands-only CPR, and using an AED for cardiac resuscitation.
Wayne Webster, a member of the St. Anne’s parish council who helped coordinate the training, said the parish’s goal is to increase community preparedness for emergencies.
“Having this large of a turnout for this program only emphasizes the need for CPR and AED training in our community. With the help of the students from UMass Chan and the support from our parish, we’re able to take on this initiative,” Webster said.
Other medical students participating in the training included Brielle Barclay-Rochefort, Victor Bacelar, Madelyn Crago, Olivia Downer, Travis Giragosian, Jennifer Jaien Jung and Timothy Matthews.
“This training is an exciting opportunity for us to work with our colleagues, and to give back to and get involved in the community,” Lopes said. “This first pilot program is a great starting point to get these trainings to other parishes and organizations in the Worcester area.”
