Health & Wellness Editor Rannoch Donald asks you to take a minute and save a life.
Could I be any less festive? Listen, you need to take a minute, read this, watch the video and pass it on. Simple as that. I recently resat my First Aid training and it made me stop and think: Why is it that a simple intervention like CPR isn’t taught in every school, college and workplace to every man, woman and child?
And timing? Well, “The number of cardiac deaths is higher on Dec. 25 than on any other day of the year, second highest on Dec. 26, and third highest on Jan. 1″ according to a study published in Circulation from researchers at the University of California San Diego and Tufts University School of Medicine.
More importantly, according to the American Heart Association, just one minute of CPR video training for bystanders in a shopping mall could save lives in emergencies, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2013.
Researchers used a one-minute CPR video to improve responsiveness and teach compression-only CPR to people with no CPR experience.
Participants were divided into two groups: 48 adults looked at the video, while 47 sat idle for one minute. In a private area with a mannequin simulating a sudden collapse, both groups were asked to do “what they thought best.” Researchers measured responsiveness as time to call 9-1-1 and start chest compression and CPR quality reflected by chest compression depth, rate and hands-off interval time.
Adults who saw the CPR video called 9-1-1 more frequently, initiated chest compression sooner, had an increased chest compression rate and a decreased hands-off interval, researchers said.
“Given the short length of training, these findings suggest that ultra-brief video training may have potential as a universal intervention for public venues to help bystander reaction and improve CPR skills,” said Ashish Panchal, M.D., Ph.D. lead researcher of the study.
So, take a minute, watch the clip, pass it on and who knows, we might just save a life…
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Happy to say that I am re-certified every year. I’m also trained and certified on the AED at the church and at work. I should also note that for some who were trained several years ago, the guidelines have changed. Whereas it was clearing airway first, it’s now recommended to do chest compression first.
Thanks for putting this out there!
One of my biggest fears is for my small grandsons but ….. their daddy is a fireman, ya can’t ask for anything better 🙂
Thanks Tom. And seasons greetings. Such a simple intervention and a message that needs to be spread. Thanks for the extra info.