Becoming a doctor and saving lives takes a lot of work, money, and studying. But we all might find ourselves in a situation where we need to do something to save a life. That’s one of the many reasons why you should take CPR classes as a good deed.
What is CPR?
The idea of investing in your ability to do good is only one of the reasons why you should take CPR classes. We all can picture it because we have seen it acted out in movies and tv shows. But how many of us can actually define CPR? Hopefully, more after this, CPR stands for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.
You’d be forgiven if you didn’t know that before, but now we know. CPR is the lifesaving process that should be performed when the heart stops beating. In fact, did you know that CPR doubles or even triple the chances of survival? The American Heart Association says that 475,000 people die from cardiac arrest each year.
That means 475,000 people last year could still be here if someone around them knew CPR. Of course, it’s not a guarantee, but that number would definitely be far lower.
What Does CPR Do?
CPR stands for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, but what does it do? CPR requires you to push down on one’s chest cavity to pump your heart for them. The goal is to keep blood flowing. You may have seen in movies and shows that people combine CPR with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Mouth-to-mouth is not recommended. Civilian bystanders are expected to perform compression-only CPR.
Why You Should Take CPR Classes
Google the question, why you should take CPR classes, and you will get one important answer; you can save lives. You never know when you will need to use CPR, and all of us should hope we never need to perform CPR. However, hoping it won’t happen doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
CPR is often the one thing that saves the life of someone who has experienced cardiac arrest. Play through a scenario where someone collapses due to cardiac arrest. Your first step is to call emergency services, but you may be waiting for some time, and it will feel like forever. That is when you can make a difference in the person’s fight to stay alive.
How to Learn CPR
We all can act it out as we have seen it in movies and tv shows, but there is more going on there than being able to act. You will need intensive classes if you agree that saving lives is reason enough for why you should take CPR classes. There are often classes around you that you can find by doing a quick Google search.
You can also reach out to the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association for more information. Ultimately, learning how to perform CPR does not take much time; one day out of your weekend or a few shorter days during the week can get you what you need. The goal is just to be prepared in case someone needs your help.
