CPR Saturdays have officially returned to Billings for the first time since 2020.
The free, public program has been on pause since the pandemic, and the organizers hope to continue the tradition the first Saturday of February from now on.
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The event took place this year at Montana State University Billings' campus.
Classrooms were filled from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with community members hungry to learn.
CPR Saturdays, a collaboration between Intermountain Health, Billings Clinic, RiverStone Health and more, offers CPR, AED, first-aid, choking, and Narcan courses.
"It's a community. We're all here to help each other. I think the more people out there that know how to save a life, the better and safer our community will be," said participant and educator, Brendan Martinez.
It's not the first time Martinez has taken a CPR course, as his wife is a CPR instructor, and he teaches at Billings Central Catholic School.
However, he believes CPR is a vital skill to have. It's one of the reasons his two kids participated in the event alongside him.
"There was nothing new I learned but it was a very good review. Sometimes, you get rusty if you're not doing it every year," Martinez said Saturday.
CPR instructor, Sandra Pearson, loves CPR Saturdays as it educates many in the community at no cost.
"Normally, they cost $60 for a class, and we're doing it for free this year. We want to make people outside the hospital get trained to help save lives," she said.
Pearson said she has been a CPR instructor for "many years."
She told MTN News Saturday this year's event is extra special because it's in remembrance of her late friend, Mary Walser.
"She worked at Billings Clinic. It would be 50 years this year. She's worked in the training center since it's opened. She has done every CPR Saturday since they started," Pearson said.
Pearson wishes her friend and colleague would've seen the program return, but says Walser unfortunately passed away in November.
"We miss her. She worked in the office, scheduled classes, so many people have talked to Mary," said Pearson.
Pearson said she honored her friend by teaching CPR on Saturday to the community, which was Walser's favorite thing to do.
The courses do not give out Red Cross certificates, but teaches the basic skills. Although, Pearson says it's more than enough to save lives.
"The more people we can get trained, the more people we can save... 9-1-1 will beg you to do CPR if there's someone there, because we need someone on that chest immediately doing compressions," she said.
It was a collaborative effort among the community, spreading education for all ages.
"It was so cool watching my kids learn. Just to think they could potentially help someone out there in the community, and that person might be me," Martinez said.
