COMMUNITY, SCHOOLS

Fire foundation gets grant to translate CPR videos for Salem students

The videos that teach Salem-Keizer eighth graders how to do CPR will soon be available in languages other than English.

The Oregon Community Foundation granted the Salem Fire Foundation $7,500 to translate the videos as part of a larger $8.7 million given to 371 nonprofits across the state, announced on Aug. 9. 

Since 2015, firefighters and paramedics have visited eighth grade health classes across the district to instruct them on how to perform CPR. When Covid closed schools, making it impossible for in-person visits, the Salem Fire Foundation developed training videos. 

According to Salem Keizer Public Schools spokeswoman Emily Hicks, those videos will continue to be used this year as well. 

Thanks to the grant, those videos can be translated into languages spoken by students within the district: Spanish, Russian, Marshallese, Chuukese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin and Swahili.

“This is such a gift to our schools and kids,” said Matt Biondi, the district’s director of middle schools, in a statement. “I can’t thank the leadership from the Salem Fire Department and the Foundation. The work that is done is truly remarkable.”

Contact reporter Caitlyn May at [email protected].

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Caitlyn May served as a journalist for nearly a decade in Nevada and in Linn Lane counties in Oregon with a focus on rural stories and long-form journalism. A graduate of both Oregon State University and the University of Oregon, she currently serves as an elementary school teacher but returns to journalism now and then, remaining a dedicated supporter of the Fourth Estate.