CPR Training: The Difference Between Life and Death
What began as a beautiful and relatively cool weekend where I live turned into the nightmare all parents pray and hope to avoid. A near drowning occurred just the other day and from what I understand, under very unlikely circumstances. Although I am unable to give a current update of the young girl who one minute was swimming joyfully with her friends and the next face down in the shallow end of a community pool, I do know CPR was used in her resuscitation, providing her with the best possible outcome.
And as I believe every cloud has a silver lining, I think the same can be said for this situation as there is now a renewed interest in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in my area. It is events such as these that make us realize one of the most important things we can all do is become certified in CPR. In fact, when I meet parents-to-be and am asked what classes they should be taking in anticipation of the arrival of their new child, CPR tops the list. Simply put, what is learned can be the difference between life and death. And with the new recommendations from the American Heart Association (AHA) in late 2005, I would recommend anyone who was trained prior to 2006, to recertify again.
With a direct link to the AHA website http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3011764 as a resource for further details of how to find classes and the new recommendations, I've also posted an AHA-produced CPR reference chart. Bear in mind this does not replace taking a CPR class, however, for those who have not been exposed to the recent recommendations, I hope it will be of interest.
With my thoughts and prayers extending to this child and her family, I ask you all to take the time to be CPR-trained...one day you may save a life.
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1
Hey Dr. Jeremy,
I have a not quite 2 year old daughter. CPR is something I've always intended to learn but never actually done.
Reading your article got me thinking. I went online and found out that St. John's Ambulance NZ, in association with one of the local banks, is providing 10,000 free CPR courses. The next one in my area is on 3 August. If my husband is able to watch my daughter for 2 hours I plan on attending. (The husband is a trained ambulance officer, though that isn't what he does for a living, and just did a refresher course through work about a month ago, so he doesn't need to go.)
So, you have inspired me to do something about learning this important skill. Thank-you!
Cath
By ClaresMom July 24, 2008 9:32pm