If you are not a healthcare provider, or your job does not require you to be trained in CPR, you may wonder whether it is necessary to be schooled in CPR.
The answer is, of course, absolutely!
Ideally, every individual should be aware and confident in administering CPR and first aid, and here are the main reasons why:
If you are around when a person suffers a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), then their life will be in your hands for the precious, vital moments until help arrives: if you can perform CPR, you will be in a position to sustain necessary blood flow to the brain, which means that you will be helping this person’s brain to remain oxygenated, and thus, alive.
It is true that your skills in CPR won’t be frequently used. But you are not going to learn them to use them frequently, but for that one time when it will matter.
SCA can happen to anyone, at any time, for any reason. Nobody is exempt from the risk. From an unfortunate hit to the chest with a baseball club to a sudden inability to breathe to a severe choking or another underlying factor, SCA can occur in infants, children, and adults alike.
And you will be there if a loved one, a friend, or just a fellow person in the subway, needs you to keep them alive.
Because not everyone is trained in CPR, if a person happens to suffer an SCA, they are very likely not going to reach the hospital alive or without severe damage to their vital organs. This happens simply because people don’t often know how to keep the blood flow going, and so the body is unable to circulate even minimal oxygen to the brain and other vital organs.
People suffering an SCA in the hospital have much better odds to survive, often without complications, exactly because hospital professionals are trained in CPR and know how to react.
When you know CPR, you are the lifesaver in the room. You are the guarantee that no matter what happens, those around you, your loved ones, your friends, have the highest chance of survival until the paramedics arrive.
Instead of a bystander watching helplessly, you will take immediate action and keep everyone else from panicking.
Learn CPR today. Save a life when nobody else can.
