Marion business owners will have an opportunity to get themselves or an employee CPR certified through a free training class organized by Police Chief Randall Davis and Metro Ambulance.

Davis said the idea came to him after asking himself what the outcome would be if someone had a heart attack or collapsed in town. A quick survey of local businesses, he said, painted a picture that was anything but bright.

“We just did a quick survey. Even I got on the phone,” he said. “And the answers were not good. It was from zero to ‘I did it 20 years ago.’”

Out of all of Marion’s businesses, only BWI had a CPR certified employee on the job, he said.

The class, which will be taught by Metro staff, will teach up to 20 representatives from local businesses how to correctly perform CPR on adults, teens and infants. Davis said the first class, set for Feb. 17, is one of several CPR classes he hopes to hold to help Marion residents and business owners know what to do in the event of an emergency.

David Mapp, chief operating officer at Metro Ambulance, said CPR can make a huge difference in the minutes it takes emergency personnel to respond to a 911 call. Keeping the blood moving and supplying oxygen to the body can buy medical responders the time they need to get to the scene and begin care.

“You can look at somebody and tell if you’ve been doing CPR because their color is going to be totally different versus them laying there 10 minutes without CPR,” he said. “You’re going to be able to step in right then and just continue it and then start what we do, advance from there.”

Howard Elkins, operations manager for Metro, said CPR certifications are good for two years, but the knowledge residents gain will last far beyond that. Additionally, he said, the skills they learn will go with them to other cities, states and wherever else they might move or visit.

“Even though that certification expires, you still have that knowledge,” he said. “It’s not like when your license expires you automatically forget it.”

Marion Police Department Corp. Dashun Reed, who will be representing MPD at the CPR class, said it is also important for the community to learn how to use an Automatic External Defibrillator, or AED. The tool can be invaluable in the event of an emergency, he said, and comes with instructions people can follow.

“I think it’s vital that every business here have one,” he said. “Even if they forget how to do CPR, it tells you how to do CPR.”

While the first classes will focus on teaching CPR, Mapp said the town can look at implementing additional training in the future if interest is there. A first aid class, he said, teaches people how to treat traumatic injuries such as gunshot wounds, apply bandages and tourniquets and make temporary splints.

Marion is growing, Davis said, and part of that growth means having to confront situations that haven’t previously come up. Teaching CPR to local business owners and employees also increases the number of CPR certified people in churches, community clubs, nursing homes and more, and better prepares the town to answer the question, “what if.”