Community CPR
In 2019, UMass Chan awarded the PACE Award to Joseph Sabato, MD, Chad Darling, MD, & Hannah Amhed, MD for the Prescription CPR (pCPR) project, which aimed to bring Hands-only CPR and AED training to family members of UMass Memorial patients more at-risk of outside-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).
In response to our successful pCPR project, we received an overwhelming amount of interest from the community to bring awareness to patients' living communities, workplaces, schools, churches, etc. Hence, Community CPR began with many arms, each supported by UMass Chan medical students in collaboration with the Emergency Medicine Department and members of Worcester County.
In 2024, we received a Remillard Family Grant to bridge the gap between UMass Chan and Worcester County community members through Community CPR. With our train-the-trainer model for Hands-only CPR training, we can provide community partners with the resources to continue training members of their community. We hope to continue these efforts annually with our established partners and to grow our community connections and strengthen Worcester County's cardiac arrest survival rate and become the Healthy Heart of the Commonwealth.
Our Community Partners |
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African Community Education (ACE) connects new migrant children and families with resources around Worcester. They offer several programs through their nonprofit, including an after-school program, ESL classes, STEM classes for students, and a mentorship program. Our CPR team partnered with ACE in October 2024 to deliver hands-only CPR training to their staff members. Our goal is to expand these training courses to include the after-school program students and the adult population in the ESL program. |
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For more information about ORIS, click here. |
The Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Services (ORIS) offers employment services, financial literacy workshops, and health seminars to new refugees in Worcester, MA and Manchester, NH. Their multilingual case manager team aids refugee families in obtaining employment, insurance, and other critical resources in the community. Our CPR team has partnered with ORIS to promote heart safety through hands-only CPR training. |
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The Diocese of Worcester and UMass Chan has partnered to bring Hands-only CPR training to its parishes. This partnership is dedicated to Joseph Sabato, MD, who passed in July 2024. Dr. Sabato, a graduate of UMass Chan Medical school, was a dedicated Emergency Medicine faculty member and physician for over 40 years. He was a passionate member of his church and community, emphasizing access and training in Hands-only CPR. We honor his legacy through our partnership with the Worcester Diocese as Sabato's Life Savers. In September 2024, Erin Hurley (MD Class of 2026) and members of the Blackstone House held the first Hands-only CPR training event for 50 members of the St. Anne’s Parish of Southborough, MA. We are actively expanding these efforts to other parishes in the Greater Worcester area. |
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The Worcester Public Library (WPL) and UMass Chan have partnered to provide Hands-only CPR to its patrons at the Main branch. This partnership was established by members of the Class of 2026, Yuriko Fukumura and Christopher Mahir as part of their Capstone project with the mentorship of Chad Darling, MD. These students have held semi-annual CPR trainings during which they guide CPR practice on CPR manikins as well as AED training, further promoting heart safety in the Worcester community. We anticipate this project to be passed on to the next class of medical students. |
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The Emergency Medicine department has hosted annual events to teach Hands-Only CPR to students at the Worcester Public Schools. This effort has since become a Blackstone House's Legacy Project within the UMass Chan Medical School which demonstrates our collective commitment to advance CPR training in the Greater Worcester district. Since the first CPR training at North High School in 2023, UMass Chan medical students have trained nearly 2,000 high school and middle school students. To date, our medical students have trained at North High, South High, Worcester Tech, Burncoat High, Forest Grove Middle School, and Doherty Memorial High. |
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To learn more about the JTTHF, click here. |
The Josh Thibodeau Helping Hearts Foundation (JTHHF) was established by Deb and Ralph Thibodeau, the parents of Josh Thibodeau who passed away from an undiagnosed heart condition in 2011. This tragic event has driven their mission to raise awareness for the prevention of sudden cardiac death in children and adolescents. Through charitable donations and assistance from the Thibodeau's, our CPR team has strengthened our connections with the Worcester Public Schools. The JTHHF have donated five AED trainers to the public school system which have been used by our CPR team to train students in Hands-only CPR. UMass Chan has also collaborated with the JTHHF to deliver CPR training at the first National Youth Heart Screening Day at Polar Park where 200 people aged 12 to 25 received heart screenings. |
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For more information about the foundation, click here. |
The Manny 267 Foundation is a non-profit started by Elvin Familia after his brother, Officer Enmanuel “Manny” Familia, drowned while trying to save the life of a 14-year old boy swimming in Green Hill Park in Worcester, MA. The foundation has since made it a mission to reinforce water safety training for police officers and the Worcester youth. The Manny foundation partnered with medical students at UMass Chan to provide water safety training to middle and high schools students at local YMCAs. This connection led to our current partnership and the promotion of Hands-Only CPR training in the Worcester Public School system. Elvin Familia is a dedicated member of the CPR team who has been present at all training sessions with the public schools to share the story of his brother, Manny, and emphasize the importance of learning Hands-Only CPR. |
