Across the United States, you can find numerous examples of the significant CPR impact on survival rates after a sudden cardiac arrest. Even hands-only CPR can save a cardiac arrest victim’s life, not to mention the impact of high-quality CPR and other techniques and procedures.
Considering the effectiveness of the CPR procedure in emergencies, it’d only be natural to consider learning it yourself. That’s why we’ve highlighted seven main reasons why every responsible citizen, parent, school teacher, or office worker should sign up for CPR certification and master these life-saving skills.
Stay tuned, and learn about the 7 reasons why everyone should learn CPR!
1. Cardiac Arrest Emergency Preparedness
Firstly, cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a life-saving technique you can administer to sudden cardiac arrest victims of all ages. For example, if you know pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation, you can provide CPR to children and infants. On the other hand, if you’ve mastered adult or standard CPR, you can act in due time to save the life of an elderly or an adult cardiac arrest victim.
After a person suffers a sudden cardiac arrest, they usually lose consciousness, and the heart stops beating. If you have some CPR training, you’ll know that the first steps you must take are to check for pulse, breathing, and signs of consciousness. If there are none, you must give a combination of chest compressions and resuscitation breaths after calling 911.
CPR for cardiac arrest emergencies is among the main CPR benefits because you can mimic how the heart pumps and increase the survival chances of the SCA victim. On top of that, you can use CPR as a critical emergency preparedness tool that you can utilize in other emergencies, such as drowning, burning, smoke inhalation, or anaphylaxis.
2. Gain More Confidence and Raise Awareness
CPR awareness has gained momentum in the past few years, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic. Every year, credible and scientific institutions, such as the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross, organize events and campaigns to raise CPR awareness. For instance, the American Heart Association regularly presents key healthcare figures and invites scientists to the annual Week of CPR.
Also, in the past few years, institutions like the AHA, American Red Cross, NCS, and OSHA have been emphasizing the effectiveness of hands-only CPR. According to the American Heart Association, hands-only CPR can be equally effective in battling a sudden cardiac arrest within the first few minutes. Additionally, without artificial breaths, you minimize the risks of covid infections and other transmittable viral or bacterial infections.
Emphasis on hands-only CPR is important in encouraging bystanders to intervene in cases of emergency. Since statistics show that less than 50% of bystanders are willing to perform the CPR procedure, even one person in the community knowing the benefits can steer the whole community in the right direction and promote a positive attitude towards CPR.
3. You Can Help Someone Who Is Drowning
Drowning is a frequent emergency, especially among children. Almost one-third of all drowning victims are children at salt and freshwater beaches in the United States. If you know the techniques of CPR for bystanders and have mastered infant and child CPR, you can respond ASAP and save a precious life.
At the CPR certification classes, you’ll learn all about the various signs pointing towards a drowning, such as the vertical water position, gasping, closed eyes, and losing consciousness. You’ll also learn about the CPR importance related to sudden cardiac arrest during drowning. Yes, many drowning victims frequently suffer a cardiac arrest, called asphyxia cardiac arrest.
That’s why everyone should know CPR for bystanders and children to prevent drowning emergencies from resulting in huge losses for the community.
4. Saving Burn Victims’ Lives
The fourth reason everyone should learn the CPR basics is the emergency preparedness in burn-associated emergencies, such as chemical, electrical, or fire-related burns. You can easily recognize the CPR importance in handling burn-related emergencies in the symptoms, such as losing consciousness or a trauma-related cardiac arrest.
During emergencies like this, the person can quickly lose consciousness – especially in the case of third-degree burns – and the trauma and pain can result in pulse disturbance and irregular heartbeat. In these cases, it’s extremely important to act as a responsible bystander and give the person chest compressions and artificial breaths.
However, in the CPR certification classes, you’ll learn that you must address first the hazard level and the risk imposed on your health within the given situation. If there’s a risk to your health, you should immediately step away from the victim and call EMS. Nonetheless, you’ll learn all these specifics in the CPR certification classes.
5. When to Perform and When to Avoid CPR
Learning CPR will help you decide in which cases you should perform this life-saving procedure and when you should avoid it. This aspect of the CPR technique is essential for avoiding further brain, chest, or heart damage.
For example, a CPR-certified person will know how to react when a person suffers a cardiac arrest, drowns, experiences severe burns, inhales smoke, suffers an anaphylactic attack, and more. However, some of these emergencies can sometimes require avoiding CPR.
For instance, if the person has a pulse or is breathing, you shouldn’t perform CPR. You also shouldn’t perform CPR if you’d potentially be exposing yourself to chemical poisoning, burning, or electrocution. The same thing applies if you’re too exhausted or if the person dies.
If everybody learns CPR, they’ll know about these circumstances, and the effectiveness and efficiency of the CPR techniques will gradually increase and save even more lives!
6. Protection from Brain Impairments
If the person who suffers a sudden cardiac arrest or anaphylaxis doesn’t receive CPR and waits too long for the emergency response services, there’s a high risk of long-term brain impairments. This usually happens if the brain is left without oxygen for 4 minutes – waiting any longer can even result in death.
Some common brain impairments are memory loss, speech difficulty, immobility, and other cognitive impairments. However, permanent brain damage is avoidable with prompt responsiveness from bystanders and EMTs.
If we all learn the various CPR techniques or just hands-only CPR, we’ll significantly reduce the risk of permanent brain injuries due to SCA.
7. It’s Easy, Fun, and Beneficial!
Lastly, the CPR learning process is fun, easy, and beneficial. It’s easy because you can master the various CPR techniques by applying and enrolling in the CPR programs at the numerous AHA-certified training centers across the United States. Everyone who enrolls in these CPR certification programs will have access to online learning materials, such as guidelines, handbooks, and manuals.
Furthermore, the CPR certification and recertification process is uncomplicated. You can enroll in different CPR courses, such as Basic First Aid & CPR, Basic Life Support CPR & AED, Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), or Pediatric CPR. You can also enroll as a group or an organization, making the process much easier and more fun!
In the end, CPR training is beneficial because it improves emergency preparedness and the effectiveness of Automated External Defibrillation. On top of that, including CPR in the curriculum in public schools and other institutions will benefit public health and the overall security of the citizens of the United States. That’s why 39 out of 50 states mandate CPR training in their schools held by AHA-certified instructors and teachers!
Final Words
There are more than 7 reasons why everyone should learn CPR.
Statistics show that bystander CPR for cardiac emergencies can often double the survival odds of a cardiac arrest victim. As such, more and more people are signing up for CPR courses with the aim of mastering the technique and even learning how to use an AED.
The CPR techniques offer innumerable benefits to every individual and society. For example, sudden cardiac arrests frequently happen in public spaces, in which case it’s useful to be trained in CPR and AED.
Once you master and gain insight into the CPR technique, you’ll be able to distinguish when, how, and why you should perform the procedure. Additionally, you’ll gain more confidence and save the lives of SCA, drowning, burning, or anaphylaxis victims while preventing brain injuries.