As part of the Hero in 30 program, CPR Instructor and Paramedic Justin Dewey masterfully readied a roomful of potential heroes at a Health Link session on October 18 at the Armoury Community Centre in Bury. First, some 45 adults and then 17 students from grades 4 and 5 students at the Pope Memorial Elementary School learned the ins and outs of both the Heimlich Manouver and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

A gaggle of unconscious dummies withstood repeated chest compressions and shocks by automated external defibrillators (AEDs), a process that can dramatically increase the chance of survival from a heart attack. As assistant to Dewey, Bury Fire Chief Edward Jacklin was «saved» from choking four times. Dewey told the students he never used the Heimlich Manouver as a paramedic, «because you have already done it by the time I arrive.»