Teen makes lifesaving a mission

For most of the past three years, Merrick teen Kayla Babbush has been coordinating the teaching of teens on how to save lives using cardiopulmonary resuscitation and an automated external defibrillator.

Babbush, 16, started Teens for Life, a program to train high school students in CPR and AED use. The program has prepared more than 1,000 students and faculty members since 2009, she said.

"I noticed there was a new generation of faculty and students who needed AED and CPR training, so I created Teens for Life," said Babbush, who took her first CPR and AED class when she was 14.

Babbush, who is finishing her junior year at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, was inspired by the sudden death of a close family friend. Robbie Levine, 9, also of Merrick, died of cardiac failure during a Little League practice in 2005. His parents, Jill and Craig Levine, created Forever 9 -- The Robbie Levine Foundation that same year in his honor.

"Kayla is an impressive student, very capable and intelligent, and is very effective in assisting with the program," said Jill Levine, who along with Babbush came up with the idea for Teens for Life, an extension of the foundation.

The nonprofit raises money to purchase defibrillators and provide CPR training for schools and youth sports groups throughout Long Island and New York City. Babbush has been working with the foundation since she was 10.

"Robbie's death was a preventable death," said Babbush, whose brother Jack, now 15, was Robbie Levine's best friend. "After his death, we have worked so hard to prevent anything like this from happening."

Teens for Life started in the spring of 2010 at JFK-Bellmore and expanded to Calhoun and Mepham high schools. The program has also held classes at Oceanside and Wantagh, and St. Dominic in Oyster Bay.

Those enrolled in the free classes are taught by North Merrick Fire Commissioner Kevin O'Hara and other members of the fire department. The after-school classes last 3 to 4 hours, and all participants leave certified in CPR and AED.

"The class is simple, interesting . . . and gives the kids the feeling that they can make a difference in helping someone should the need arise," said Jill Levine. A victim's chances of survival without CPR or defibrillation decreases by 7 percent to 10 percent every minute after sudden cardiac arrest, according to the American Heart Association.

Babbush and the Levines, with the American Heart Association, have been lobbying in Albany to require high school students to pass a CPR and AED certification test in health class in order to graduate.

They have also advertised on a million milk cartons, distributed throughout the metropolitan area, to promote CPR and AED education and training. The advertising was made possible by a $15,000 donation from Tuscan Dairy Farms, Babbush said.

"The more people know CPR and AED, the more we can save lives," she said. "What can be more important than saving someone's life?"