Less than 3 percent of United States residents are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

On Sunday, however, 10 locals took the first step toward bucking that trend at a class presented by the CPR Road Tour in Nesquehoning.

The training was sponsored by the Carbon County Animal Response Team and featured instruction in both human and pet CPR.

“Doing something is better than not doing anything, and that’s really why we’re all here today,” instructor Earl Ostrander said.

The class, which was held at the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency, featured both verbal instruction by Ostrander, a retired emergency medical technician, and hands-on practice on human and pet manikins.

Ostrander showed the class how to check a human’s breathing by titling the head and lifting the chin.

“If that airway isn’t open, then you want to push down on the center of the chest at the nipple line and give 30 compressions for every 2 rescue breaths,” Ostrander said.

Attendees also learned proper use of an automated external defibrillator. The chance of survival jumps to 75 or 80 percent with the use of an AED, a portable device that checks the heart rhythm and can send an electric shock to the heart to try to restore a normal rhythm.

Frank Beckett, director of Carbon CART, spoke of the importance of learning lifesaving tips for pets as well as humans.

Carbon CART has been working to provide pet oxygen masks to area fire departments.

“We’ve been trying to get out and get everyone trained so we’re hopeful classes like this could help with that,” Beckett said. “As with almost any training, I think we’d all rather have the knowledge and not have to use it then get in a situation where we don’t know what to do.”

The biggest difference between CPR on a person as opposed to a dog, Ostrander said, is hand placement. On a dog, one wants to put the palm of their hand across the front shoulder and do the same amount of compressions, 30, as on a human. The amount of rescue breaths, two, is also the same.

“You do the best you can,” Ostrander said. “If after about 20 to 30 minutes, you’ve had no response from the animal, it is probably time to stop.”

Michele Beckett, of Carbon CART, offered other safety tips such as wrapping up a cat before starting CPR to avoid clawing if the animal suddenly wakes up.

The situations to which Carbon CART responds are always changing, and training is a big part of the game.

Frank Beckett explained recent situations where he was called to Palmerton for a cat that found its way onto a set of power lines and a bovine that was stuck in a pond in Monroe County.

“Fortunately, those solved themselves as the cat got down and the bull got out of the pond, but this is what we’re trained to do, and it’s why we try to get more and more people trained as well,” he said.

Carbon CART officials said they hope to do future training sessions if there is interest.