Brookings Health Restarts Baby Café and Basic Life Support Classes

Safety Measures in Place to Mitigate COVID-19 Spread

Brookings Health System recently restarted two in-person events, New Beginnings Baby Café and American Heart Association Basic Life Support classes.

New Beginnings Baby Café supports breastfeeding mothers in every aspect of nursing, from starting to weaning and every variation in between. It is facilitated by two registered nurses who are also IBCLC lactation consultants. All pregnant and breastfeeding moms are welcome to attend. Attendees will be able to get free one-on-one help from lactation consultants and weigh-feed-weigh their baby to ensure their infant is getting enough milk. Baby Café occurs every Thursday evening from 4 to 8 p.m. in Brookings Hospital’s conference room A. No registration is required. Attendees are asked to use the West Entrance along Twenty-Second Avenue.

The American Heart Association Basic Life Support course is recommended for health care providers and other personnel who need to know how to perform CPR and other basic cardiovascular life support. The class uses realistic scenarios and simulations to cover adult, infant and child CPR as well as ventilation using a barrier device, Automated External Defibrillation and choking relief for adults and infants. The class uses QCPR training manikins which give the instructor real-time information about how a student performs chest compressions and airway ventilation. This feedback allows instructors to relay quality information to students and offer suggestions on how to improve their technique. This reassures students they can perform high-quality CPR that will save lives. Basic Life Support classes occur monthly at the Ambulance Station & Education Center. Cost is $50. Interested students can register online at brookingshealth.org/CPR.

Both events have safety measures in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Baby Café restricts attendance to mothers and babies only. Basic Life Support classes are restricted to eight students per session; only one student will be allowed per table in the classroom to maintain social distancing. Both events require attendees wear masks; attendees will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms and temperature.

For more information on both in-person and virtual events available Brookings Health System, please visit brookingshealth.org/events.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic & Optical, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.