In 2009, 15-year-old Claire Dunlap went into cardiac arrest while playing varsity softball for her high school. If it hadn’t been for the CPR equipment on site, the incident could have killed her.
“It can happen to anyone at anytime,” Dunlap said.
Now a 20-year-old UF advertising junior, Dunlap will speak at GatorSavers’ mass CPR certification at the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom on Saturday.
The event will certify 800 people in American Heart Association’s Adult CPR and Automated External Defibrillator, or AED, during three different sessions — 9:30 a.m., noon and 2:30 p.m. It will be Gainesville’s largest CPR certification, according to the American Heart Association.
There is a $5 cost to attend the event, said Clay Gibbons, director of sales and marketing for GatorCPR.
“Any money raised will be used to provide an AED to the community,” he said.
He said GatorCPR is trying to reduce the “bystander effect” by training people in CPR and making them feel comfortable with it. He said he hopes the event will influence people to take action and increase the survival rate of cardiac arrest, which is an estimated 7 percent in the state of Florida, he said.
“The goal of this event is to try to get people to take CPR class who would otherwise not take CPR class,” Gibbons said.
There will be 57 volunteer instructors at the event who will train participants on Adult CPR, saving people from choking and how to use the AED.
Chrissy Hankin, a 19-year-old UF elementary education sophomore, said she is attending because it is a good opportunity for a low price.
“I have always wanted to get CPR certified,” she said. “It’s something that I’m going to need.”
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 2/13/2014 under the headline "Gainesville’s largest CPR certification event to be held Saturday"]
