Where in the world are you?
By Martha McKenzie
Bob Culver 96AA had been teaching basic and advanced CPR courses across the country when he was invited to Kenya to provide instruction.
During one of his first sessions, a participant raised his hand and asked, “What do you do if you don’t have a defibrillator?”
The question stopped Culver in his tracks.
“I thought, ‘What do you do?’ ” he said.
Culver, who works as an American Heart Association instructor and a semi-retired anesthesiology PA for
So Culver returned home to Atlanta and started CPRBobCares Foundation to, in the words of its mission statement, educate, empower, and equip.
To educate, the foundation provides financial support and Culver and his team
To empower, the foundation developed instructor training programs.
And to equip, the foundation aims to provide defibrillators and other supplies to medical facilities that need them. Last year, CPRBobCares sent six defibrillators, and one recipient reported the device had already been used four times. Culver hopes to double the number of defibrillators he sends this year.
“We believe you should do more than teach a man to fish,” says Culver. “You need to offer him a fishing pole.”
Are you an Emory Medicine alumnus doing interesting work in, say, rural Kentucky, New York City, Jakarta, or Taipei? Let us know where you are and what you’re doing with a quick email (and photo!) to the editor: mary.loftus@emory.edu.