Written by Julia Dillon
Each New Year people are encouraged to make resolutions to improve themselves or better society. People vow to workout every day, to volunteer more, and to eat less. By February, most gyms are no longer packed, people realize volunteering takes time, and they remember how good cake tastes. According to a University of Scranton study, only 8% of people actually fulfill their New Year’s resolution.
Maybe instead of attempting to change lives in major ways people could resolve to make minor changes that can have major impacts. Two simple resolutions that can have positive influence in your life and others are learning how to perform hands only CPR and learning how to avoid a cardiac arrest. Last year in Louisville, Kentucky 750 people had a cardiac arrest. One in ten of those victims survived. This scary low survival rate has many wondering how to bypass becoming a statistic?
The best way to prevent a cardiac arrest is to avoid one. Not smoking, eating healthy foods, and exercising regularly are key in avoiding a cardiac arrest. Following these guidelines gives you a better chance of not becoming a cardiac arrest victim, but remember; cardiac arrest does not discriminate, and even the healthiest people can have a cardiac arrest.
So you are walking into a health food store, on a quest to eat better foods, and the man walking out of the store collapses. This is when the resolution of learning hands only CPR comes into play. What do you do? First make sure he is not breathing by looking at his chest to see if it rises. Then you designate a bystander to call 911, and another bystander to find an AED. You begin performing hands only CPR by locking your elbows, interlacing your fingers, and giving chest compressions. Remember push down about two inches to the beat of “Staying Alive”. You keep performing hands only CPR until EMS arrives. Once EMS takes over and you step back, you can pat yourself on the back for saving the man’s life, and for making a resolution that positively impacted the man and his family.
Start the Heart Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to teaching as many people hands only CPR. If more people know how to perform hands only CPR, they are likely to intervene and increase a cardiac arrest victims chances of survival. Start the Heart will teach hands only CPR to anyone, anywhere at no cost. If you want a group of people to learn how to save a life with hands only CPR, sign up for a class here: http://starttheheartfoundation.org/sign-up-for-cpr-training/
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