Capt. Scott Ledet forced his way into the burning RV with a hatchet. He found Pony, a 1-year-old Chihuahua in her crate, lifeless.

He whisked her outside and began mouth-to-mouth. Yep, that’s right. He spread her mouth open and put his lips “down to the bottom of her throat.”

Ledet didn’t let up, and after 30 minutes of CPR and oxygen the little dog began showing signs of life. It took an hour, but she made it.

Pony’s owner calls her the “luckiest little miracle dog.”

In Ledet’s words, “I never thought twice about not performing CPR on the dog. It was never a question.”

When a toddler drowned in waist-high water, her mother didn’t hesitate to react. She started CPR immediately.

By the time the rescue crew arrived, the child was breathing.

“We see incidents like this during the summer months every year,” said Sheriff William Earl Hilton. “It only takes a split second for a fun day at the lake or swimming pool to turn into tragedy. Thankfully, this mother reacted quickly and saved her child.”

Too often a parent is prepared to respond with CPR, and far too often someone dies.

Be a hero. Learn CPR today!

It started with Illinois enacting a law requiring CPR be taught in high school, and it’s catching like wild fire around the country.

While not many high school students will suffer from cardiac arrest, their parents or grandparents are in a higher percentage category. Some of the questions, or misunderstandings surrounding this new wave of legislation should be addressed.

Can CPR hurt someone if does incorrectly? While most states have a Good Samaritan law protecting volunteers who offer assistance, the bottom line is that any help is better than no help. Keep in mind, the cardiac arrest victim has died, you can’t make the situation any worse.

Training is expensive. Not true. Many schools can partner with organizations that offer training for a small amount, or free. Remember, you don’t have to be certified in CPR to perform it in an emergency. It’s primarily jobs that require certification.

Won’t instruction take away from the real curriculum? Actually, effective instruction for hands-only CPR can be done in as little as thirty minutes.

Can a teenager really perform CPR? Recently an 11 year old girl in 5th grade saved her Grandmother’s life doing hands-only CPR.