How to Save A Life – Maybe Yours

This week I’ll be attending an Advanced Life Support course, to keep my qualifications up to date. We’ll get to resuscitate plastic dolls, wave those electric paddles around in the air and yell “STAT!” at each other, like on TV*.

I’ve been doing this for years now, on both plastic and real people, but I was half way up Kilimanjaro, lost in ice, rocks and darkness, before the obvious question finally crossed my mind: who would resuscitate me if I got ill?

Through fading torchlight, I surveyed my fellow trekkers and stayed close to the one I knew was a doctor. It’s handy to have qualified friends.

I remembered this slow chill of fear when reviewing the Resuscitation Council’s manual this morning. One phrase, in particular, caught my attention.

That means that if the person you’re travelling with collapses with a cardiac arrest, you can double their chances of survival by performing effective CPR. Or, to look at it another way, if YOU collapse with a cardiac arrest and no-one around you can do CPR then your chances of survival are halved.In other words, it’s not what you know; it’s what the people around you know.

 CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation – and it’s a combination of chest compressions and ‘mouth-to-mouth’ that can be taught and learnt in only a few hours.

*Only kidding – except for the plastic doll part. Waving electric paddles around equals an instant fail and yelling anything earns you an instant slap in the face.
RESUSCITATION COURSES

The American Heart Association - runs a Class Finder website
St John’s Ambulance in the UK runs First Aid Classes

Note – you need to PRACTICE this. Stay away from online-only courses.

I have no connection to or sponsorship from any of the organisations mentioned. If you know of somewhere reputable that organises this training then please add them as a comment.

Flatline photo credit here