WEST SENECA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Ever since Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest in Cincinnati, CPR certification has been talked about more than ever in Western New York. WNY Healthcare Education & Equipment (WNYHE) is one of the main instructors for many medical centers in the region. WNYHE Owner, Roger Leising, said although they work directly with a lot of different companies that look for certification, people without any
"It's not just the frontline workers and it's not just the city of good neighbors. It's the city of people wanting to help each other. We save more lives, we improve Western New York healthcare one class at a time," Leising said.
What happened to Hamlin was rare, in the instance it happened. You're talking about a 24-year-old professional athlete. Leising said that you never know when something could happen to someone's heart.
"The one thing to take away from the Damar Hamlin tragedy is that anyone can go into cardiac arrest at any time," Leising said.
Leising added that it's easy to look at these athletes like they're untouchable. He said, if anything, it's always important to have certification and even equipment on hand, incase an emergency like this occurs.
We think of our Bills and sports heroes as just that, as superheroes. We think they're above and beyond anything because they can do what we can't, but at the end of the day, we all have hearts. We're all human," Leising said.
WNYHE offers classes all the time to get CPR certified. You can click here to find more information on WNYHE's mission, and to register for a certification course.
