The American Heart Association has released some facts and statistics that are directly related to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. I want to share some of these facts with you. For the complete list you can visit the AHA site.

About 75 to 80 percent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen at HOME. This means having someone trained in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) can make a substantial difference for the survival rates of a loved ones.

Approximately 310,000 of all annual adult coronary heart disease deaths in the United States are suffered outside the hospital setting and in hospital emergency departments. Of those deaths, about 166,200 are due to sudden cardiac arrest.

These are some very important reasons why we still need people to have CPR training. With response times for medical professionals, EMT's and Paramedics, taking anywhere from 6 to 20 plus minutes, depending on location and time of day, it now becomes vital for a bystander to help with CPR.

 In addition, the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AED's) have also been playing a vital role in saving lives due to sudden cardiac arrest. This is why many companies and communitieshave introduced AED's to their safety programs.

 In closing, I ask that you ask yourself one question, and if the answer is NO than please consider going through a training course.

 If someone collapsed in front of you right now, would you know how to react?

The National Registry of CPR collects data from in-hospital resuscitation events in more than 500 participating hospitals in the United States. In the latest publication, "Survival From In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest During Nights and Weekends"  the authors evaluated survival rates over a 7 year period for adults in-hospital cardiac arrest based on arrest time of day and day of week.

As expected the results showed that survival rates were worse during nights and weekends. The biggest areas of concern being operating room/postanesthesia care unit and the interventional catheterization laboratory. The differential did not hold true for the emergency or trauma units.

The authors believe that there are many factors that contribute to the decline at night and on the weekends.

 Some factors are:

 - Physicians perform psychomotor tasks less proficiently at night,

-  experienced workers often times do not get scheduled on night shifts, 

-  and fewer visitors means that the likelihood of detecting deterioration in an unmonitored patient is much less.

These are just a few reasons that are mentioned. The NRCPR believes that these stats can be fixed with additional training, such as mock codes and cardiac resuscitation simulation. Also, with the addition of schedule changes taken into account alternating weekends and nights to boost proficiency.

You can follow this link to see the whole article.

There are many industries that are required and mandated to have CPR certifications and First Aid training to stay compliant with regulatory agencies like Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), Department of Public Health (DPH) and Massachusetts Early Education and Care (EEC). These regulations are in place to promote a safe work environment.

Who makes you as an individual get this training?

The answer is no one! In my opinion, everyone should get trained. About 75 to 80 percent of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen at home. This could mean the difference between life of death for a loved one.

Would you like the power to double the chance of survival of a loved one if they go into cardiac arrest?

You do have that power, if you provide CPR immediately you can double that chance that they will live. Approximately 95 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die on the way to the hospital. If no one does CPR immediately, the chance of survival is only 7-10 percent. WOW! Those aren't good odds.

Are you a new parent, grandparent or babysitter?

What if the child began to choke? Contrary to popular belief picking the child up by the leg and hitting them in the back is not the right procedure. In a CPR course you can learn how to manage any size and weight of a child when you need to help them if they are choking.

Do you have a pool, live on a lake or the ocean?

If someone was to drown and you pull them out of the water, the next step is to perform CPR, exchanging air for water until you clear the lungs,and finally do compressions until they show signs of life.

 Feeling helpless is one of the worst emotions to deal with. What if I did something different? What if I didn't do enough? What if I knew how to do CPR? What if I were trained in obstructed airway?

 Don't let yourself get into this position, find a training and sign yourself up.

The new concept of Hands Only CPR under the RIGHT circumstance can be just as effective as Traditional CPR, 2 breaths, 30 compressions, 5 cycles in 2 minutes.

In surveys taken, trained and untrained lay rescuers said they would be more apt to help someone if they did not have to do "mouth to mouth" on the victim. So, by doing fast and hard compressions you can help the victim and give them the same chance of survival as if you add rescue breaths.

This is only true under the RIGHT circumstances. The Hands Only CPR can only be effective if you witness the person go unresponsive from cardiac arrest. The key is you must witness it happen in order to use the Hands Only CPR.

CPR is to keep oxygenated blood pumping to the brain to keep it from dying. When your brain hits 4 minutes of no oxygenated blood going to it, it will begin to die. So, when you witness someone go unresponsive from cardiac arrest the body stores at least 4 minutes worth of oxygenated blood in their body. Some research has shown that the body may store even more oxygen in the blood, as much as 6 to 8 minutes worth.

 In conclusion,if you do fast and hard compressions you will give the victim the best change of survival. 

 Those numbers would work based on the national average that EMS response time is 8 minutes.That is why and how the Hands Only CPR can and will be effective. Please note response times will vary depending on your location. 

Hands Only CPR will NOT work under the following conditions:

 when you find someone who has gone unresponsive from cardiac arrest,

when you are already using an AED

 or If the victim is a child or an infant.

In summary, basically, if you witness or find someone who is unresponsive and not breathing they are dead. You can not make anyone worse off than dead, so, anything you do can only help. More people might be willing to help if they only did compressions and that is better than nothing.

For further information or if you have questions please feel free to contact us.

Did you know that the American Heart Association (AHA) does all the research and writes the Emergency Cardiac Care (ECC) guidelines for CPR, First Aid and Automated External Defibrillator (AEDs)? The American Red Cross (ARC) uses the American Heart Association Guidelines to create their programs. So, if you wanted the best CPR program, wouldn't you want to work with the person who did all the research and wrote all the guidelines? I would.

As a business owner, I know safety is important, However, why would I spend more time and more money on a CPR class if Massachusetts General Laws and OSHA say that I only need to do CPR every two years not every year. The American Red Cross issues their CPR certification cards for ONLY one year. You will also find that if you take an American Red Cross certification course the time lines are much longer than an American Heart Association, National Safety Council or American Health & Safety Institute. Why is that?

I just want my staff trained to know what to do in an emergency for the first few minutes while they wait for help to arrive. I don't need my staff trained to be like an EMT. 

To view a detailed comparison between AHA and ARC click here.

Productivity is effected and too many staffing hours are needed to plan, schedule and do CPR training. So, if the American Red Cross CPR class is longer and I only get a one year certification,why would I do that? I wouldn't.

Which class would you choose? I know I choose the American Heart Association CPR, AED and First Aid Trainings.

Let me ask you. Have you ever taken an American Red Cross Class? If yes, tell about your experience.