We hope you never need to use CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), but everyone should take a course so that you’re prepared in case the need ever arises.

Administering CPR is different with infants, children, and adults. Smaller bodies require different techniques and have different breathing and heart rates.

In a CPR course you will learn how to identify if someone needs CPR, how to be sure the airway is open, and how to administer CPR. Of course, calling 911 is essential if someone is not breathing.

You can take a course with the American Red Cross or, in Georgetown, through the fire department or health department.

Probably you have seen the proliferation of AEDs (automated external defibrillators) in public places. This article from the National Institutes of Health describes AEDs and the need for them this way:

“An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable device that checks the heart rhythm and can send an electric shock to the heart to try to restore a normal rhythm. AEDs are used to treat sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

SCA is a condition in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When this happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs.

SCA usually causes death if it’s not treated within minutes. In fact, each minute of SCA leads to a 10 percent reduction in survival. Using an AED on a person who is having SCA may save the person’s life.”

You don’t have to have a medical background to be able to use an AED, and the training isn’t difficult. The device itself is not terribly expensive to have in a workplace. For a few hundred dollars you can be prepared to save someone’s life.

© MBS Writing Services, 2015, all rights reserved