Mary Houska

Mary Houska has worked in healthcare for 40 years. She began her journey after learning CPR as a Girl Scout and using those skills to help a friend. She became a paramedic and managed an ambulance service south of Pittsburgh before moving to South Dakota to raise her family. There she found it difficult to locate CPR classes, leading her to work briefly with the Red Cross and then the American Heart Association. She opened Heart Starters, where she has taught advanced life support, basic life support, and CPR classes from her home classroom for 20 years, serving companies and individuals. She also works as a tech at Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, performing procedures such as line pulls and basic patient care. Houska emphasizes teaching skills correctly to ensure they can save lives.