The Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad visited Thomas Hunter Middle School on Tuesday to share some valuable information with seventh and eighth grade students—how to render aid if a person becomes unconscious and unresponsive and exhibits signs of sudden cardiac arrest.

In an all-day session, MVRS information officer and CPR instructor Ron Lambert and fellow squad members Debbie Lambert, Caren Frigge and Malcolm Conway demonstrated CPR techniques, showed students how to use an automated external defibrillator, and gave students time to practice the techniques themselves.

While there’s a 5 to 7 percent chance of saving a person by performing CPR alone, said Lambert, those odds increase to 70 percent or more if an AED is available within five minutes of a person becoming unconscious and unresponsive. The more people who are trained, he said, the better it is for the community.

Although the class was not a certification course, Lambert said that it’s import...