THE IMPORTANCE OF CPR IN SAVING A LIFE

As many of you many remember, this summer I was unexpectedly away for a while after a major medical emergency with someone very, very dear to me. It was a life changing time for me and life saving moment for this person.

I don't usually do posts like this, but I felt this was so very important, and that any awareness I can bring to it could help save a life. Just as it did, thanks to my extraordinary father who did everything just as he needed to do it and in the nick of time, this summer.

TIME magazine just printed and posted an article yesterday in the Healthland section titled "The Case Against Mouth-To-Mouth Resuscitation."

(photo via time wellness)

It reveals the importance of understanding and knowing the new ways of CPR for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. How chest compressions are the most important thing, over the mouth-to-mouth that was previously taught.

The most shocking part of the article is how love the percentages is of those who do CPR correctly and end up saving a life. I passed this onto my dad after seeing it since he has recent personal experience with it and he added something to the article that wanted to share...

One thing bothers me - If you do hands-only, I'm not sure how you can tell whether the air passages are clear . . . you can't "hear" whether air is going into the lungs just from the chest compressions. However, if you do mouth-to-mouth, you know for sure, because you can hear it and you can feel the chest rising with air going in . . .

It seems to me that the hands-only method should include making sure the air-ways are not blocked. In (name taken out for privacy) case I could not get air in until I turned his head to the side a bit and the 911 lady on the phone instructed me to do that.

After turning the head, it was easy to blow air in and, I suspect, air was going in and out of the lungs with each chest compression.

The other thing I'm surprised about is, even in best cases they mention in the article, the survival rate is so low . . . Wow!

Feel free to pass this article along and get certified if you can. I was certified back in high school when we were required to take it for health class and again when I took a babysitting course.

However, it has not only changed since then, but it has been many, many years since my certification and classes, and I don't honestly think I can remember it fully.

So, I am signing up for a class in my area, just as many of my friend did shortly after they heard what happened in my life this summer, and am going to get re-certified, which I plan to document here!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! I wasn't planning on writing it, but was compelled after reading the article and being struck by all that happened to me personally.

Side Note: My dad had download the Pocket First Aid & CPR App on his iPhone just weeks before the incident happened, which he had encouraged me and my sisters to do as well ,prior to any of this, stating that "the $3.99 is worth it," and was it ever!

He himself had not taken CPR since he was in high school, which was many, many years before I got mine and it had mentioned the above changes.