Why You Should Learn How to Perform CPR

Everybody should. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is one of those life skills that HOPEFULLY you won't need to use(unless you find yourself in emergency medicine like me), but you should definitely have on the off-chance that it's you who is right there with someone who drops from cardiac arrest.

A lot of times it happens that someone will go into cardiac arrest, at which point surrounding friends/family members will start panicking(understandably) and call an ambulance. While this is important, you need to do more than call the ambulance. When the EMT's and paramedics arrive, they will provide CPR, defibrillation, IV drugs, the whole deal, but those minutes before they arrive are crucial. Basically, when you drop in cardiac arrest, you have roughly four to six minutes to pray that somebody gets there and starts doing CPR or your brain will die.

When someone is in cardiac arrest, chances are that their heart is in ventricular fibrillation. This means that their heart is basically quivering with erratic activity that is in no way suitable for sustaining life. CPR, even if it is only pumping a little bit of poorly-oxygenated blood through your body, provides a few more minutes' chance that is desparately needed.

Helping someone in cardiac arrest is a process known by EMS providers as the "chain of survival"(defined by the American Heart Association). This chain begins with Early Access, which means someone immediately calling 911(or any other specific emergency response numbers for that area)in the event of this emergency. That way, EMS providers can be dispatched to the scene as soon as possible.