CPR

Today I got my CPR and first aid certification.  Some of the fitness certifications I'm studying for require a CPR certification, and as a fitness instructor, I just think it is a good idea to be able to revive clients that I've lead to the brink of death and not let them fall completely over the cliff (morally and ethically of course, but it also makes good business sense).  I used to be a lifeguard, so I was a regular in the American Red Cross CPR courses for many years.  It always amazed me how much CPR changed from year to year.  First, it was 1 breath and 5 compressions.  Then, it was 2 breaths and 15 compressions.  Now it is 2 breaths and 30 compressions.  It always made me nervous that, God forbid I ever have to use my CPR skills, I would perform it using last year's "technology" and the victim would actually die.  Hopefully if it ever comes to that, I'll be able to do it in some manner that actually saves the person's life.

Today's class was taught through the Longmont fire department, and it was actually very disappointing.  The teacher, who I believe said she had been a fire fighter for two years, was probably in her late twenties and was very cool.  As we were discussing head injuries, she informed us that she had had SEVEN concussions.  Seven.  Apparently she played softball and ice hockey, and she probably couldn't remember what else she'd ever done.  The people in the class were also very friendly and generally made great classmates.  Sure, there was one woman who constantly asked the extremely specific questions about EVERYTHING ("So, what if the victim is having a heart attack on a hiking trail while being bitten by a snake who touched a downed power line and is choking on some trail mix, and she's also pregnant with twins?  How am I supposed to tell 911 where we are located if my cell phone can't get a signal?")  One woman, bless her heart, was the only one in the room who said she had actually had to use CPR on someone before.  She left the room several times crying during the course...apparently something was still emotionally very raw with her.  I kind of wish I'd gotten to talk to her to see what had happened.

So we pretty much blew through the various aspects of first aid.  We watched a video (complete with the porn star quality acting) and paused every so often to hear some details about what we just witnessed.  Then we got to the part where we were to perform CPR on the dummies.  Unfortunately, the instructor could not find the little face shields to put over their faces so no one would catch my mild case of whooping cough I'd brought to class with me.  So, we were instructed to "pretend" to give breaths.  Ummm, actually PERFORMING the breaths on the dummy is kind of a big deal I think.  It takes some practice to tilt the head right and breathe in the correct amount of air.  Too little air, you aren't helping get oxygen in the lungs.  Too much, you'll blow up the victim's lungs.  Either of these are bad.  I was stunned that we were getting certified to do CPR but not actually getting to perform breaths.

Next, we got to see an AED (automated external defibrillator) in action.  The instructor made a big point, several times, about how these things have just one button and are completely idiot proof.  And then karma kicked in.  She couldn't find where to plug in the leads until one of the students in the class pointed it out to her.  Then, a voice in the AED gave her step by step instructions of what to do.  Repeatedly.  She told us eventually it would tell us to stand back and push "the button" to deliver a shock.  Well, that point never came. I could just picture this being used in the field and after 15 minutes of being told to remove the victims clothing around his chest and to apply the leads, the victim would just get tired of waiting and cross over to the other side.  In the end, the instructor basically said "Well, ones in buildings will tell you everything you need to know to use it, so just do that.  Any questions?"  BAM!  I'm AED certified now.

Since I've taken several first aid and CPR classes over the years, this was pretty much a refresher for me, but I felt bad for those people who had never done this before because I can't imagine they really learned anything.  When I was a shift foreman at a factory in Cincinnati, I had to take a 5 day, 8 hour per day first responder course.  The dummies gave feedback as to the frequency and depth of breaths and compressions, and we had to do five minutes of CPR while making ZERO mistakes with regard to either of these.  Practically everyone had to do the test multiple times, but in the end, you felt damn sure you could do this in real life if needed.  I didn't quite get that same warm fuzzy feeling today.  But oh well, it was still a good review for me at least, and the people there were fun to be around.  I'd actually highly recommend a first aid/CPR course for anyone, particularly if you have kids.  What you learn really can save the life of someone you love one day.