Community Involvement

Stoughton Health and Stoughton Library Team Up to Support Girls’ After School Program

Resilience training helps teens to cope with life challenges and obstacles in a healthy manner. Learning how to tap into strengths and support systems guides teens to make positive choices.

Girl-2-Girl (G2G) is an after school program for girls in grades 6-12 designed to encourage development of strength, confidence, honesty, and service by creating a close-knit community where girls can discover and celebrate their true selves.

Stoughton Health and the Stoughton Library teamed up to support G2G through a book donation. With resilience as the topic of the month of May, they chose, “The Resilient Teen: 10 key skills to bounce back from setbacks & turn stress in to success,” by Sheela Raja. Stoughton Health also donated a copy for the library’s collection.

Past G2G mentor, Tracy Markle, shared that benefits of programs like this one go well beyond the time the teen is in the program. Healthy relationships, strong character, and advocacy follows them into their college years and beyond.

COCPR

Community COCPR Classes: Empowering Life Savers

With the return of in-person classes, Stoughton Health has resumed offering compression-only CPR classes. Compression-only CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) is a crucial lifesaving technique that has been shown to significantly improve survival rates for cardiac arrest victims. Unlike traditional CPR, which includes both chest compressions and rescue breaths, compression-only CPR focuses solely on providing chest compressions.

The importance of learning compression-only CPR cannot be overstated. Studies have shown that the chances of survival for a cardiac arrest victim double or even triple when bystanders perform CPR.

During the past year almost 100 community members have participated in the free class offered at Stoughton Health. After NFL player, Damar Hamlin had a very public cardiac event, the American Heart Association shared that the interest in CPR training spiked.

Promoting compression-only CPR training within communities can foster a culture of preparedness and confidence. Class participant Bonnie Weidner said, “I feel confident now that I can truly make a difference in an emergency. It is empowering to know that I could potentially save a life. I shared what I learned with my neighbors and friends and encouraged them to take the class as well. We joked that we can now be each other’s superheroes!”

Stoughton Health classes can ensure that more people, regardless of age or background, are equipped with this vital skill. By empowering individuals with the ability to perform compression-only CPR, we not only enhance public health and safety but also build a community where everyone is prepared to respond effectively in emergencies, ultimately saving lives.