Have a Heart. Save a Life.

On day 9 of my 30 Days of Patient Care I would like to discuss CPR and the importance of learning it to not only save patient lives, but the lives of our families, friends, and even strangers. I have to renew my CPR training this week. I remember learning it for the first time..how anxious and nervous I was even though it was on a dummy doll. I wanted to make sure I did all the compressions and breaths correctly. It's one thing to do it on a doll, its a whole other rush to do it on a human being. Knowing that you have another person's life in your hands is indescribable. There are "more than 300,000 people who suffer from cardiac arrest every year" and having the skill to perform CPR can make a difference between a person living or dying. Being able to ensure the blood continues circulating throughout the body is vital for the organs to remain alive. Did you know most cardiac arrests emergencies occur in the home? Would you know what to do if someone you loved had one?

Becoming trained in CPR is not difficult and is being offered in more and more locations throughout the country so that bystanders can jump in and assist until those with advanced training arrive on the scene to help. Many schools, employers, hospitals and other agencies like the American Red Cross offer training in CPR. The more people who are trained and perform CPR, result in the more lives being saved.

Will you be one of those people who help?

https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/first-aid