CPR is something that other people need to learn: healthcare professionals, EMTs and firefighters. Right?
Wrong. The facts just don’t bear it out. For example, did you know that 88% of cardiac arrests happen not in the hospital, or at the workplace, or on the road—but in the home? And 70% of Americans say they wouldn’t know what to do during a cardiac emergency. That’s unfortunate, because when someone experiences cardiac arrest, every minute counts. How many lives could be saved if those 7 out of 10 Americans all knew how to administer CPR?
Miami’s Miracle Baby
CPR is something that’s only for the elderly and people with heart conditions. Right? Wrong again. Anyone of any age can experience a life-threatening emergency.
That’s what happened to Pamela Rauseo recently. A 37-year old mother, Rauseo was driving down a busy Miami highway when her five-month old nephew, Sebastian de la Cruz, suddenly stopped breathing. Rauseo panicked, then remembered the CPR training she had received more than a decade earlier. She calmed herself, called 911 and began to administer CPR.
That’s when another driver, 34-year old Lucila Godoy, spotted the commotion and stopped her car to help. As it turns out, Godoy also knew CPR. Together, the two women saved Sebastian’s life. Imagine the tragedy which could have occurred if neither woman had learned how to administer CPR.
The Facts about Cardiac Arrest
Every year, nearly 400,000 Americans experience sudden cardiac arrest. And many, if not most, of these people had not been diagnosed with heart disease and appeared healthy before their incident. Almost 9 out of 10 cardiac arrests occur in the home. African-Americans are about twice as likely to experience cardiac arrest as Caucasians, and their likelihood of surviving such an incident is about half that of Whites.
Anyone can experience a life-threatening illness or accident at any time, whether they’re old or young, Black or White, sick or seemingly healthy. Believing that such emergencies only happen to “someone other then me” is living in a fool’s paradise, and potentially extremely dangerous.
That’s why everyone really should know how to administer CPR. Take the time to learn CPR, and to make sure that the members of your family do the same. The life you save is likely to be that of a friend or a relative. It might even be your own.
For more information on how to learn CPR, contact us today.
Related articles
