Spending six hours in a conference room studying first aid and resuscitating plastic mannequins is not the ideal way to spend a Saturday for most students. But for Kyle Swanstrom and many other University of Idaho fraternity members, the time was well spent.
Nicole Tong | Argonaut
IFC President Steven Cleppe practices CPR techniques on a test dummy Saturday afternoon in the Idaho Commons. Cpl. Art Lindquist of the Moscow Police Department taught the CPR and AED certification course.
“Not only is this helpful in the fraternity setting and on the campus setting, but everywhere you go there’s the potential for something to happen, and it’s good to be prepared,” Swanstrom said.
The Interfraternity Council hosted a CPR and AED certification course taught by the Cpl. Art Lindquist of the Moscow Police Department Saturday.
Steven Cleppe, IFC president, said every house on campus was represented at the training sessions. He said he originally wanted the president, risk manager and a freshman from every fraternity to attend, but due to scheduling conflicts, fraternities sent one to three members who they felt could act responsibly in an emergency situation.
Lindquist, an instructor for the Red Cross, said Cleppe approached him with the idea of teaching a certification course to address safety issues in the Greek community.
“There have been concerns in the past and issues that have popped up,” Lindquist said. “When anything happens there, it tends to stand in the forefront.”
Cleppe said alcohol related incidents have required IFC to be more proactive in educating the Greek community on safety procedures.
“When I had the idea to do this, I looked at past experiences that have happened on campus,” Cleppe said. “Being able to educate people and train them in the necessary procedures to take to make it so it’s a safer area.”
Cleppe said IFC is involved in other safety training programs that increase the safety of fraternities, including alcohol poisoning talks and police programs. He said these safety trainings will reduce the severity of future incidents and teach members lifelong skills.
Cleppe said he thought the training would be too expensive for IFC’s budget, but discovered the courses were affordable and signed up for two sessions to accommodate as many members as possible.
Swanstrom said the course covered first response techniques and warning indicators that responders should look for. Even though he has taken CPR classes before, he said it was important to review the process and necessary steps.
Swanstrom said the course strengthens the safety environment of fraternities and renews a sense of responsibility to fellow members.
“We want to hold ourselves accountable and help each other out, and so every tool we can have in our tool belt to help each other out is very helpful,” Swanstrom said.
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected]