An upcoming CPR class in Ketchikan will certify Filipino residents. The Ketchikan Wellness Coalition class aims to ensure residents can help their neighbors or family members in an emergency. That’s a skill even more necessary in two of Ketchikan’s biggest apartment buildings, where it’s difficult or impossible to access a defibrillator.
Alma Parker leads the coalition’s Strengthening Cultural Unity task force. She said this class specifically targets Filipino residents who speak multiple languages. If a bilingual person is CPR-certified, Parker said they can help others who don’t speak English while waiting for first responders in an emergency.
“Having bilingual (people) in different dialects (become certified) would also be ideal, because Tagalog is the national language, but there are so many different dialects of those who are from the Philippines,” Parker said. “So that would be in the perfect world.”
In particular, the coalition wants to see more CPR-certified Filipino people in Ketchikan’s biggest apartment buildings, Tongass Towers and Marine View Condominiums. A majority of the residents in both buildings are of Asian descent, according to 2020 Census data, and together, they’re home to about 30% of Ketchikan’s Asian-American community.
“Those are highly dense populations of Filipinos (who) live there,” Parker said. “And we felt it was necessary to ensure that there was a CPR trained resident in the building.”
Neither of the two buildings has an automated external defibrillator, or AED — a device that allows people with just a bit of training to shock someone’s heart back into rhythm — according to Ketchikan Fire Department officials, nor are they required to. But they can make it dramatically more likely that someone survives after their heart stops. For every minute that someone goes without a defibrillator, their chances of survival go down about 10%, according to the Red Cross.
Ketchikan Fire Department Chief Rick Hines said CPR is the best way to keep someone alive until there’s an AED available.
“And it’s in the hopes of keeping blood circulating, keeping the heart oxygenated and irritated enough that it will stay in that rhythm until an AED can get there, or a defibrillator can get there and try to shock them,” Hines explained.
Hines noted that when someone becomes CPR certified, it’s more likely than not that they’ll have to use that skill one day. And he said, most times, it’s a family member who needs help.
“We talk about having a plan for the fires or fire escape plans, or what we’re going to do if this happens, but I think also it’s worth mentioning, what happens if you’re with your parent, and they start showing signs and symptoms of a stroke, or signs and symptoms of a heart attack?” Hines said. “What’s your plan? How do you anticipate acting?”
Hines said every second counts. Typically, he would expect first responders to make it to one of the buildings from the downtown station in roughly six minutes. But that doesn’t count the time it takes to get the crew and equipment to the right floor.
“One of the things to factor in is elevator availability: how long it takes to call the elevator, how many stops the elevator makes going up to the floors,” he said. “And that certainly can make the time to make it to the top floor of that building longer than the time it takes to actually respond to that building.”
That’s one of the reasons the Wellness Coalition is working to certify more residents. And Parker said a similar CPR class last month yielded promising results.
“Our first CPR class was held at the Plaza that we recruited and solicited people to come and join the class that were of Filipino descent who specifically spoke Tagalog,” she explained. “So we could have some bilingual, CPR fully trained first aid and CPR community members in our lovely town of Ketchikan.”
At that class, eight Filipino residents became CPR-certified. Four of those people also spoke Tagalog. Some were kids, and Parker noted she’d like to see more young people in future classes.
She said trying to place AEDs in the building is something her organization would consider, but the devices also need upkeep and maintenance. So in the meantime, the coalition is pushing hard to get the lifesaving knowledge of CPR into the hands of as many people as possible.
