Cary fire district captain receives Life Safety Award for teaching CPR

CARY – For more than 30 years, Cary Fire Protection District Capt. Dennis Krenz has taught Cary-Grove High School sophomores a skill he hopes they'll never need to use – CPR.

Schools in Illinois weren’t required to provide students with a general knowledge of how to perform CPR until 2014, but Krenz had been volunteering his time to teach students long before then.

It’s estimated Krenz has taught more than 14,000 students, and because of his work, the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance has awarded him with a Life Safety Award.

Krenz is one of six people in the state to receive the award this year, according to a news release from the alliance.

“In today’s lifetime, you never know what can happen,” Krenz said. “You want to always be prepared.”

Sophomores at Cary-Grove High School learn CPR from their health teachers before being taught and tested for a day by Krenz and other volunteers from the fire district, said Dan Cysewski, who taught health at Cary-Grove High School for about 37 years.

“When we say we’re going to do CPR, [the students] go ‘Aww, OK,’ and don’t take it seriously,” Cysewski said. “But the minute [Krenz] comes in here with his uniform on, he gives a lot of credibility to everything we’re doing.”

Cysewski said Krenz helps build confidence in students who may go on to have jobs where CPR training is required.

Cary-Grove High School senior Andrew Booth said he didn’t expect to use what he learned from Krenz until he started working as a lifeguard with the Barrington Park District.

Another senior Krenz taught, Ivana Dulanto, also found the skills helpful for her job.

“I baby-sit a lot and volunteer with [the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association],” Dulanto said. “I think it’s important to know the Heimlich and CPR just in case anything were to ever happen and I’m responsible.”

Krenz also helped the school receive grants to buy its own mannequins and automated external defibrillators to use for practice, Cary-Grove health teacher Lara Vetta said.

“You see them using [AEDs] in movies and things like that, but to actually learn how to use them was really helpful because you never know when you’re going to need them,” Cary-Grove High School senior Caitlin Brommel said.

Aside from teaching CPR, Krenz also tells stories from calls the department has received, and covers topics including drug use and wearing a seatbelt, he said.

“We always tell them, ‘You might not listen to your parents … and you might not listen to your teacher, but listen to us because we see this stuff,’ ” Krenz said.

Vetta said Krenz’s dedication stretches beyond the school and into the Cary community.

Krenz, 65, has lived in Cary almost his whole life, and he was a Cary-Grove High School graduate. He works full time at the Cary Park District as a safety and risk manager, teaches emergency medical services classes at McHenry County College and has officiated high school and junior high school basketball for 43 years.

Krenz said although he will retire from the fire department in May, he plans on continuing to teach CPR and keeping up his certification.

When Krenz found out he had received a Life Safety Award, he said he was completely surprised.

“I appreciate it, but I just love what I do,” Krenz said.

The Cary Fire Protection District offers CPR classes from 7 to 10 p.m. the first Wednesday of every month. For information, visit www.caryfire.com.