Having an Adult CPR Certification can be a life saver. Imagine you are enjoying an evening with your friends, and a person at the next table goes into cardiac arrest and is experiencing major breathing difficulties. What do you do? The natural thing would be to help them by administering CPR right away.
CPR, or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, is an essential life technique that involves an emergency response to save a life. It is a skill everyone should possess to help in situations like the one described. We never know when we’ll find ourselves at a scene where someone might need our help. That’s when what you learned in your CPR course becomes useful.
According to American Heart Association statistics, sudden and out-of-hospital cardiac arrests affect people of all ages and are considered a public health crisis. The percentage of those with fatal consequences is exceptionally high, and trying to prevent them by obtaining adult CPR certification is vital.
What Is a Cardiac Arrest?
A cardiac arrest is a life-threatening situation where the heart stops beating suddenly, causing the person to collapse. During this time, the person is not responsive and is unable to breathe normally. They may shake and gasp, as is the case when a person experiences a seizure.
What is important about cardiac arrest is that the person needs immediate assistance. Their life is in danger, and a fast reaction is a must. To be sure that they will survive, nearby individuals should immediately call 911 and start CPR. Which is why having an Adult CPR Certification is important.
Knowing When to Perform CPR
When a person is having a sudden cardiac arrest, the immediate response is to help. However, it’s recommended not to do anything unless you have the right CPR training for adults. Why? Because administering CPR the wrong way may have fatal consequences.
When a person collapses and becomes unresponsive, holders of an adult CPR certification, like health care providers, first responders, safety and security professionals, or any person with training, know what to do.
If the cardiac arrest was not witnessed or is due to a drug overdose, a combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions is recommended. Lifeguards are trained to administer this type of CPR in near-drowning situations.
Using What You Learned From Your Adult CPR Certification
Following the right steps that you learned during the Adult CPR Certification process in your CPR class to giving CPR is vital. Here is a brief overview of what needs to be done:
- Ask one of the bystanders to call 911;
- Ensure that the person and everyone around is safe and not at risk;
- Lay the person on their back and check to make sure their airways are clear;
- Remove anything that may be blocking their mouth or throat;
- Check to see if they are responsive. If they are not breathing, start CPR.
Repeat the hands-only CPR until an ambulance arrives. This is vital, as the whole point of CPR is to keep the person alive and breathing until they enter the nearest health facility.
When to Stop Performing CPR?
Sometimes the question that lingers in our mind is: when is it wise to stop giving CPR? During CPR classes for adults, you will learn that CPR should be stopped once the person starts breathing normally. Other cases include the arrival of emergency personnel or if there is an AED (automated external defibrillator) available for use.
Another reason to stop performing CPR that not many take into consideration is that you may become too exhausted to continue. This is a situation when mechanical CPR devices can help.
An even more worrying one is if the environment becomes unsafe. It is advisable that you double-check your surroundings before performing CPR to establish the cause of the cardiac arrest and ensure your own safety.
Why Is An Adult CPR Certification Important?
Having the right CPR training for adults is always useful. For critical moments, such as when a person’s life is endangered, knowing what to do means the difference between life and death.
We can list hundreds of reasons for the importance taking a CPR class, but we’ll narrow it down to the most crucial ones:
To Save Lives
Sudden cardiac arrests don’t give you a warning; they can happen at any time and any place. Providing trained CPR can increase the person’s chances of survival, while administering it the wrong way can lessen them.
Knowledge Matters
If you are a bystander witnessing a cardiac arrest, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to offer immediate emergency assistance to a person in need. Having acquired CPR certification for adults, you will also be confident that you know what you are doing.
Every Minute Counts
In emergencies, things can go wrong in a matter of seconds. Administering CPR in situations where there is a lack of blood flow to the organs, especially the lungs, brain, and heart, will help avoid any damaging effects.
To Keep Your Loved Ones Safe
There are more and more parents and caregivers who choose to have CPR training. With many emergencies surrounding children and the elderly, knowing how to provide immediate help is essential. Assisting a loved one in need until trained help arrives can make all the difference.
Safe Schools and Community
We may not consider schools to be a place where sudden cardiac arrests can occur, but they do. About 2.1 students out of 100,000 can experience cardiac arrest. This is all the more reason for teachers, community organizations and volunteers to attend Adult CPR Certification classes and get certified training. In some states, teachers and students are required to have CPR training.
To Offer a Safe Work Environment
Workplace safety is a vital part of protecting the staff. With 10,000 cardiac arrests happening at the workplace every year, along with other possible injuries, knowing CPR is an advantage.
Human resource managers are among those who must have an adult CPR certification to help a colleague in need. Fitness instructors, lifeguards, and safety and security professionals, due to the nature of their job, also must be trained and certified.
What Does An Adult CPR Certification Include?
Attending training and getting adult CPR certification will give you access to information on reacting in emergencies. Trained instructors will show you methods and techniques for helping a person in need. This includes learning how to find a heartbeat, restore unassisted breathing, and perform chest compressions and rescue breaths.
CPR Classes will include the latest updates to CPR techniques you can try during cardiac emergencies. It is important to choose a CPR education center that follows all OSHA requirements.
Can You Fit CPR Training Into Your Schedule?
It will not be difficult to fit a CPR course into your schedule, as training centers offer weekly options to choose from. All you need to do is choose a class, register online, and show up.
The whole training and testing process is facilitated by trained instructors. If you face any uncertainties before or during the training, by all means, ask a lot of questions! Getting as much useful information during the training means you will be more prepared to offer help.
Does An Adult CPR Certification Expire And Why?
An Adult CPR Certification is valid for a period of two years. To comply with AHA and OSHA standards, you will need to renew it every 24 months. The reason for this is to upgrade your knowledge and skills.
Our memory tends to fade, and renewing it every two years is a great way to refresh your knowledge and improve your skills. It is also a great opportunity to learn if there are any updates on existing CPR techniques.
How to Extend Your Adult CPR Certification?
There are two ways to extend your adult CPR certification. You can take a CPR renewal course and extend a certificate within 6 months from the expiry date. This is a much faster and much easier process.
You can take a challenging course to test your knowledge and CPR performance ability. The other possibility is taking a renewal course and getting a simplified and reduced overview of a standard course.
If you happen to miss the 6-month window, you’ll need to go through a process of recertification or start from the beginning.
Final Thoughts On The Importance of An Adult CPR Certification
We can all agree that having adult CPR Certification is always useful. In most professions, having one is a job requirement, and it is a great option for keeping the workplace safe. With children and other individuals also experiencing sudden cardiac arrests and other emergencies, it is a priority that teachers and other members of the community get certified.
CPR is a life-saving technique that serves for the greater good. Being trained and knowing how to assist means we know we have done everything to save someone in need.