In the Friday, Feb. 2, edition of the Butler Eagle, we learned about an award given to four lifeguards and their instructor in recognition for saving a boy’s life in June.

Greta Schmidt, Olivia Schrzure, Garrett Shreve and Paige Welch were on duty at the Cranberry Community Waterpark on June 19 when a 12-year-old boy nearly drowned. The four lifeguards were able to get the boy to safety.

On Thursday, the four, along with David Hutner, who is the assistant director of Cranberry Township Parks and Recreation and the Red Cross instructor who trained them, received the Red Cross Lifesaving Award for Professional Responders.

The award is for Red Cross-trained professional responders and health care professionals who save a life while on duty.

Hutner, who gave the four lifeguards certificates recognizing their heroism from the township at a meeting in July, made clear how serious things were.

“There was a 12-year-old boy who was able to go home that night,” he said. “This was a true drowning scenario. The fact is, things could have gone very differently, but our staff did their job that day.”

And Hutner, who trained them, clearly did his, as well.

Jorge Martinez, CEO of the American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania, who presented the award, told the Eagle there have been 26,000 Lifesaving Awards given to professional responders since 2018, when the program was reconfigured, and those responders had saved 1,500 lives.

The lifeguards spoke about how their training was what made it possible to save the boy, and that raises an important point. Training on how to respond in an emergency is what makes it possible to save a life when things go wrong.

In addition to lifeguard training, the Red Cross offers training in CPR, first aid, basic and advanced life support, using an Automated External Defibrillator, and more.

Training is something nearly everyone can take part in, and you never know when it will literally save a life. There are even online courses available.

To find a training class, visit redcross.org/take-a-class.

— JK