Ever feel helpless in a serious situation????

So, you’re in a restaurant and someone starts to choke.  You know what to do–get someone to call 911 and do the heimlich maneuver.  That’s easy.  So they are choking, you use the said technique to dislodge unsaid choking hazard.  Good job!!!  But, what do you do if you can’t dislodge that choking hazard and they go unconscious.  That’s easy, assist them to the floor and do abdominal thrusts.  Let’s just say that the ab thrusts work and the hazard is dislodged.  Excellent!!!  You look down and notice they have not started breathing on their own.  You feel to see if they have a pulse. Nothing.  The national average time for EMS to arrive is somewhere around seven to ten minutes.  Can you hold your breath for ten minutes?????

Definitions for this blog:

CPR- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

AED- Automated External Defibrilator

Can anyone say CPR.  As a paramedic, it is not just my job to be there for people who are in trouble, hurt, or worse.  It is also an unsaid conviction that I should be an advocate for prevention and to stress the need for the general public to be involved in emergency care of individuals by learning CPR and AED use.  I won’t accept the excuse that it is too hard, or that you don’t have time.  I know of 6 year olds that know CPR (do you think a 6 year old thinks they have the time to sit and learn that); and the AED, don’t even kid yourself.  It is in the name-AUTOMATED.  There are instructions on the machine that give you step by step instructions on what to do.  Including “turn on AED”.  Couldn’t be any easier.  There are those of you out there thinking that you will never use it or that you couldn’t possible be cool enough under pressure to use what you will learn.  I can tell you from conviction, not experience, that I would rather know it and never use it than not know it and watch someone suffer or possibly die because I had the chance to learn CPR and didn’t.  I will guarantee you that the life you save is someones daughter, son, father, mother-someone very important to someone.  That someone might possibly be you.  Wouldn’t you want to be prepared for that kind of an emergency even if you only learn it just in case for your family or loved ones.  Take the time to learn it.  You will not regret it.  If you need information on where to go or what to do, I will be glad to help you and get the information for you.  All you have to do is express the desire to be prepared to save someones life if the need arises.  That doesn’t sound so tough to me.  Please, take the time to learn CPR.  If you have a family, make it a family activity.  There can never be enough CPR trained individuals.  Thank you in advance for your help.  Remember, the life you save knowing CPR, could be someone very close to you.

Copyright 2006

Brandon W. Crews