In the event of an emergency/natural disaster, it will be important to not only be personally prepared, but to be prepared to help others. Being certified in both First Aid and CPR will be extremely useful. I know I never quite enjoyed taking these classes because they weren’t too exciting, but when the baby you’re babysitting starts choking or you find your mom unconscious, the things you learn in these classes will come in VERY handy. Don’t believe me? Read this:
CPR Success Story:
Like most of the students in his class, fourteen-year-old Jeff Bernahl probably never thought he’d use the first aid and CPR training he had learned in school. Two months later, though, the lessons he’d learned helped save his father’s life.
Robert Bernahl, Jeff’s father, had walked into the living room of their home and asked Jeff and his sisters if they wanted to play cards. Then he walked back toward the kitchen, only to collapse.
“I thought Dad was kidding,” Jeff said. He soon realized, however, that something was very wrong, and that his father was not breathing.
Jeff’s father’s heart had stopped beating. Jeff’s mother, a registered nurse, began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, while Jeff began compressing his father’s chest.
“At first I wasn’t sure if I remembered how to do it, but it just came back to me as soon as I started. You have to find the landmark toward the end of the ribs.”
Paramedics who arrived on the scene said that Mr. Bernahl is probably alive today because of the quick actions of his son and wife -and that Jeff had obviously learned his CPR training very well.
When you ask Jeff if he considers himself a hero, he just grins and shrugs his shoulders. But for his courageous actions, Jeff Bernahl has been named to receive the Red Cross Certificate of Merit – the highest award given by the American Red Cross.
The following places offer both First Aid and CPR courses.
Red Cross (online)
*(if this link doesn’t work, go to http://www.redcrossut.org/ and click on “course schedule” on the left)
These courses are quick, efficient, and will definitely be worth your time! Prepare yourself–I promise you that these skills will come in handy sometime soon!
Are You Ready? Emergency Preparedness & Response 