With the increase of stress in our hectic lives, the death rate has increased to a new level. The most common reason today is heart attacks and cardiac arrests worldwide. A person having an attack can be saved by a technique called CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
Many might think that this skill should be left to professionals like healthcare providers or lifeguards, but it's important that everyone knows how to perform this technique. In an emergency situation, anyone can help maintain the blood flow to the brain and heart of a person before medical help actually arrives.
Save Lives
The number of people having cardiac arrests has been rising each year. According to a recent survey, there are over 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the U.S., and almost 90% of them are fatal. Cardiac arrests happen when there is a problem, and the heart can no longer pump blood effectively to the rest of the body. As a result, a person loses consciousness, collapses, and stops breathing when that happens. By performing CPR instantly, you can help keep the circulation and prevent brain injury and death. Brain death usually occurs in 4-6 minutes after the heart stops pumping. Hence, the chances of surviving a sudden heart attack increase significantly if CPR is performed immediately.
It is Not Done Enough
It is shocking to know that significantly fewer people actually know how to perform CPR. In most out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, people have received bystander CPR. People usually say that they haven't received any training whenever asked if they can perform this life-saving technique. People are also cautious about doing it, thinking about the risk of doing more harm, risks, or concerns about getting an infection. This tells us that there is very less awareness about CPR and hesitation towards taking the training. But, all these issues can vanish with the proper training. After all, it's just like acquiring a new skill.
Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation isn't Always Necessary
People usually refrain from taking the training due to the thought of performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a stranger. But, the guidelines for performing CPR were changed in 2010. The rules declared that people who aren't comfortable could attempt hands-only CPR. Chest compressions can be performed without offering breathing assistance. Though rescue breathing is a crucial component of CPR, hands-only CPR has also proven to be effective if someone experiences sudden cardiac arrest.
CPR is Easy to Learn
CPR isn't as complicated a process as people think. It can be performed by anyone and anywhere. You only need the proper knowledge on how to do it. To perform CPR, place the heel of your hand on the center of the patient's chest. Keep your other hand on top of it and interlace your fingers. Start pressing down about 2 inches on the chest and then release. Speed up and keep repeating this at least 100 times a minute. Ideally, keep doing this until the medical help arrives. In case the patient is a child or an infant, you will need some extra information. We genuinely recommend taking a CPR course to know more. What better good deed than saving a life?
Chance to Save Your Loved One
Most cardiac arrests happen at home, and not all are lucky to have a family member who knows how to perform CPR. Also, such emergencies come unannounced, so someone looking healthy may have an unfortunate cardiac arrest. Let’s hope that none of us gets in such a situation. However, performing CPR may save someone, and you could be the one to save your loved one!
CPR training has now been started in a few schools to train more individuals to save lives. Also, a few job applications also require certification.
Do you know CPR? If you don't, are you up for the challenge? CPR certification from MyCPR NOW gives you the proper education to take a stand in such an emergency. You can complete the course at your pace with our manual. You can learn about children, infants, and adult compression-to-ventilation ratios with the safety considerations in this course. The best thing is you pay only if you pass. So what are you waiting for? Do good today!
