Reseda

Sprawled over the gym floor on hands and knees, with fingers clasped over mannequins’ torsos, about 300 Reseda High School students learned life-saving techniques Wednesday. The students were involved in Heart Attack Rescue Training or HART, a new program for teenagers developed by the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Fire Chief William Bamattre launched the program earlier this year with the help of LAFD staff and Explorer Scouts, who instruct the students in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid for choking.

Although five other Los Angeles high schools have already received the training, Reseda is the first Valley school to benefit from the program. Bamattre hopes to expand the training throughout the city, eventually having 100,000 students proficient in the technique by the year 2000.

Councilwoman Laura Chick, who donated $500 from her community service funds to sponsor the training, said the program is valuable because it functions as a preventive measure.

“This should make the Fire Department’s job easier. If someone on the scene already knows how to do this, it reduces the need for the firemen and paramedics to do this type of work,” said Chick, who chairs the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.

Battalion Chief Mike Perez, of LAFD’s air quality assurance section, designed the HART program with other objectives in mind as well. Besides saving lives, Perez wants to boost the students’ self-confidence.

“We really want to make an impact on the entire city because there’s nothing worse than not knowing what to do in that situation,” said Perez.

After the two-hour training class, students received a certified CPR card from the Fire Department. Jorge Casillas, 17, said he thought learning the procedure was embarrassing at first, but after a while he felt comfortable.

Westside’s LAFD Capt. Jim Carson said that is one of the misconceptions about CPR.

“It’s not complicated,” he said. “It’s just using your hands to take over for someone’s heart.”