- Experience
This is the single most crucial aspect of an instructor. Everybody can read a handbook on CPR and start firing away instructions to the students. But CPR training is more than that. Only an experienced instructor can reveal the nuances of a real-world CPR situation. A paramedic, nurse, EMT, lifeguard, and other similar professionals are the people who deal with such emergencies on a regular basis and will have dozens of stories to tell the students. This will give the class a holistic idea of what is expected of them in such situations.
- Passion and Procedural Knowledge
The instructor should believe in the importance of the job. A passionate instructor captivates the mind of the students like nothing else can. A teacher`s excitement easily penetrates into the students` minds and gets them to learn and understand the things at hand with more zeal. Such an instructor never lets a class become boring and compromise the learning of students.
An instructor should be motivated enough to keep oneself updated with the latest developments in the field of CPR. The guidelines are updated regularly and the instructor should be aware of the most recent guidelines. This will inspire the students to do the same.
- Knowledge of Human Anatomy and Physiology
A badly administered CPR may result in broken ribs, heart or lung contusions, hemothorax and other complications. The instructor should be able to make the students aware of the positions of the human organs and the correct ways of administering a CPR without causing damage to the internal organs.
- Communications Skills
The instructor should lead the class and facilitate learning. CPR is a serious subject and could be quite intimidating for the first time learners. An instructor with a good sense of humor can make the class fun, while managing to get the students to learn. Just telling stories will not cut it, an instructor should involve the students and make them understand how the lifesaving skill came handy in saving the lives of people on multiple occasions
- Technological Proficiency
A number of technological tools can be used to teach a class. Presentations on a projector are a very effective way of communicating with students. Internet could also be a great resource for learning, if properly utilized. The instructor can simply open CPR videos on YouTube and point out the common misconceptions about the procedure. The instructor should be familiar with such tools to connect with the audience in a more effective manner.
]]>- Legal Implications:
An emergency requiring CPR is naturally a life and death situation. Consequently, the legal implications of the actions by various parties during the situation are also serious. Although it is the duty of a CPR professional to act and tend to such an emergency, considerations such as consent, scope of practice, confidentiality, documentation and so on are equally important. The classes train participants on the legal considerations and proper behavior to be followed with the victim.
- Protection against pathogens
The professionals are trained on the various methods of preventing the spreading of blood-borne pathogens from the victim. It is possible that an emergency victim is a patient of blood-borne diseases such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV. Therefore a professional should be well versed with precautions to be taken against exposure to such pathogens and also know the steps to be taken if an exposure occurs.
- Primary Assessment
One of the first things a professional is required to do in an emergency is to assess the conditions of the victim. Unconsciousness, breathing, pulse and bleeding are to be checked. The accuracy of the assessment is critical, for the correct administration of life-saving techniques to the victim. Classes discuss in depth, the steps to be taken during assessment of victims in various emergencies such as spinal injuries, drowning, vomiting and so on.
- Respiratory Distress Situations
In the pandemonium that ensues an emergency, it is difficult to notice important clues on the conditions of the victim such as Hypoxia, Choking or slow breathing. Professionals are trained to look for a dozen symptoms of respiratory distress in a victim and the assistances they can extend the victim.
- Cardiac Emergencies
This could be a tricky subject for a non-professional since the symptoms of cardiac emergencies are easily confused with muscle spasms or indigestion. A late response in identification of and response to a heart attack could mean death to the victim. CPR Professionals are trained to recognize the various causes and symptoms of a heart attack so that they can tend to the victims.
- Administration of CPR
CPR is a fairly complex technique and requires considerable skill on part of a professional. Factors such as hand position, chest compression rate, ventilations and others, have to be properly monitored while administering a CPR. These factors also depend on the age of the victim.
- Two-Rescuer CPR
In this method, one of the rescuers gives chest compressions, while the other administers ventilations in a synchronized manner. Since those few precious moments of emergency can be a deciding factor between life and death for the victim, an extra pair of hands is an advantage. The CPR classes train the participants on how to administer a two-rescuer CPR in sync with each other.
8. Automated External Defibrillator (AED)
Most classes on AED may not cover the topic of AEDs for the simple reason that it is not something that is readily available to everybody in an emergency. They are available mostly with the Advanced Medical Personnel. However, some classes do cover AEDs in varying depths of detail. Typical knowledge explored in AED sessions include using an AED on adult, child and infant, precautions to be taken with AED and so on.
Most of the information on CPR is easily obtained online. But it is a fairly complex task and requires considerable skill on part of you to administering it. Therefore, it is your duty, as a responsible fellow human, to practice these skills in person in classes. What`s more, as someone with such life-skills, the people around you can depend on you to tend to them during an emergency.
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A doctor who presented research on the importance of CPR during the American Heart Association’s resuscitation conference in Chicago proved her point hours later, saving a man who collapsed in a hotel lobby.
Monique Anderson, M.D., was talking with another doctor about the importance of fast response to cardiac emergencies while leaving a reception Sunday night when they saw a middle-age man face down on the ground.
Anderson and three other doctors ran to him, rolled him over and saw that his face was ashen. He was not breathing and had no pulse.
Anderson – who had never performed CPR outside a hospital setting – quickly yelled out instructions to one of the doctors to call 9-1-1 and started chest compressions. After a few rounds, the man sat up and said, “I’m OK, I’m OK,” Anderson said.
Anderson said her first thought when they saw him was, “Is this real?” The second thought was, “Take action.”
“We knew we had to get to him,” she said. “We assessed, we called for help and initiated what we learned.”
As she was giving CPR, one of the other doctors cheered her on, yelling, “Keep pushing! Keep pushing!”
“It was a team effort,” Anderson said.
As of Monday afternoon, the man had undergone tests at a hospital and was doing well.
The doctor who called 9-1-1 was Eric Peterson, M.D., M.P.H., a longtime volunteer with the American Heart Association and director of cardiovascular medicine for the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina, where Anderson also works as a medical instructor.
“Panic quickly sets in to even the best of us, but really having somebody there who knew what they were doing, doing CPR, was really key to keeping this organized and running well,” Peterson said. “And once it was all done, what an amazing feeling. This is sort of what we all do and talk about in research, now coming to life.”
Anderson, who is also an active volunteer with the American Heart Association, focuses exclusively on cardiac arrest research and has trained thousands of people in CPR at Duke and throughout North Carolina.
She has pursued resuscitation as a career ever since she treated a patient in the cardiac critical care unit. She was so inspired by that patient that she made a short documentary about it called, “Surviving Cardiac Arrest, A Family’s Perspective on a Second Chance at Life.”
“It’s amazing to see that there’s been a lot of research in the area and it’s growing, but survival has not changed to the point that we’re happy about,” she said.
Only 10 percent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests survive, and the majority don’t get the immediate help they need from bystanders. High-quality CPR can double or triple a victim’s chance of survival.
As a volunteer for the AHA, Anderson serves on the Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee. She also serves on the planning committee for the Resuscitation Science Symposium, held Saturday and Sunday in Chicago.
In addition to presenting research on the importance of high quality in-hospital CPR this year, Anderson also led a first-of its kind study showing where CPR training is happening across the United States.
Her lifesaving experience Sunday reinforced the importance of her work.
“I want to reiterate how important it is for people to act fast in emergency situations and remind everyone to learn CPR,” she said.
]]>Reasons that you may need to do CPR on a child include if they are choking, drowning, have received an electrical shock, have an unknown medical issue such as heart or lung disease, have experienced a head trauma, or ingested a poison. Often a preventable accident causes the emergency that requires CPR. The following tips may be helpful in preventing these accidents from occurring in the first place.
1. You should always assume the child can move more than you think. For a baby, always use safety straps on high chairs and strollers and never leave them unattended on an elevated surface such as a bed. Even if they haven’t rolled before, it is possible that today could be the first day they roll and you don’t want it to be off the bed.
2. Make sure only age-appropriate toys are accessible. A child that puts things in their mouth needs to be carefully monitored and their toys should be regularly inspected for loose parts or other hazards.
3. Make the environment as child proofed as possible. Verify all outlets are covered and toxic chemicals are out of reach or stored in a childproof cabinet.
4. Choking is a major concern for young children. Make sure popcorn, coins, grapes, and nuts are always out of reach. Do not allow children to play with balloons especially those children that will try to put the balloon in their mouth. If it pops, it can block the airway.
5. Always carefully watch children around water. This includes bathtubs, swimming pools, ponds and rivers. According to the CDC, 20% of those who die from drowning are children under the age of 14. For each child that dies from drowning, 5 more are treated in an emergency department. Children ages 1 to 4 make up the largest percentage of children who drown.
If you are a parent or child caregiver that would like to learn pediatric CPR so you are prepared in case you face an emergency situation contact us. We realize you are busy and provide the option of coming directly to you. We can tailor the class to your needs and provide American Heart Association and American Red Cross training.
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Cardiac arrest and stroke incidents in the workplace along with work-related accidents are among the leading causes of death and disability and the most expensive medical conditions to bear for business establishments in general. Fortunately, employers can take initiative in instituting their own workplace safety measures that will help them keep their workforce stay healthy and productive as well as lower their insurance premiums, worker’s compensation claims and other direct and indirect health care costs. These measures may include the following:
1. A sufficient number of employees should be made to undergo formal CPR training and regular re-training. Provide them access to a nationally-recognized training course such as that offered by Oceanside CPR. With timely CPR intervention, death and disability in the workplace resulting from heart attacks and accidents may be kept in check and prevented from getting worse. In addition, AED devices should be placed in easy to reach sections of the work stations. According to the American Heart Association, at least 20,000 lives could be saved each year through prompt use of these portable electronic machines. Also, keep an adequate stock of medical and first aid supplies in the workplace at all times.
2. See to it that the workplace is at all times safe and secure. Minimize the risk of accidental electrocution by ensuring that all electrical connections and potentially dangerous electrical equipment are always in good condition and out of the way of the employees. Minimize the risk of accidental suffocation or asphyxiation by ensuring that there is adequate ventilation in every work station. Minimize the risk of slip-and-fall accidents by protecting entryways with matting that can keep water, dirt and debris outside from getting inside the workplace. Keep the workplace clean of contaminants and hazardous substances. Conduct frequent routine workplace safety and security inspections, including on precautions for fire safety and escape routes.
3. Institute health improvement plans and programs for the workers such as free or subsidized lifestyle counseling for those who are dealing with obesity problems, addictions and other related health-risk issues. Business establishments may also provide in-house exercise and fitness facilities, or subsidize the cost of membership in external gyms and private fitness clubs. They can likewise arrange that only healthy foods and drinks will be sold and served within the workplace premises. They should make blood pressure monitoring devices available for use by their employees any time they feel they want. It would help if they can also encourage them to take the stairs or even to walk to and from the workplace as often as possible. They could develop and cultivate a health and safety culture in the workplace among the employees by encouraging them with rewards or incentives for submitting doable, inexpensive health and safety suggestions.
Business establishments would do well to remember that managing health and safety in the workplace is not just about social responsibility or about complying with state and federal labor laws. Doing so will reduce their cost as well as increase their overall efficiency. Doing so makes perfect business sense.
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http://www.911ready.com/blog/bid/381736/Automatic-External-Defibrillators-It-s-All-About-The-Marketing?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=4849662
Ever notice how many fire extinguishers there are? Ever notice how you know where those fire extinguishers are? Now, where is the closest automatic external defibrillator (“AEDs”) located? See a pattern here?
I suspect the difference is because of marketing. What does a fire extinguisher do? Extinguisher fires, right? Fires are bad, right? Happen all the time, right? We need those fire extinguishers.
Now about those AEDs? What exactly do they do? Peoples’ hearts just stop? Never heard of such a thing. When you “drop dead” don’t you do just that? How can some gizmo restart a heart beat….at church, in the mall, on the playing field, or any public place? Keep your voodoo science to yourself.
It’s all about marketing. If you’re reading this blog post you probably know that Sudden Cardiac Arrest is a significant problem and an AED is the definitive solution when the public is faced with this problem. So why doesn’t the concept of having an AED and/or knowing the location of the closest AED seem important to the public.
Here’s my idea. Our offices are near one of the great research parks in the United States. Thousands of years of higher educated professionals sitting at desks, sedentary, and working long hours with bad food. A set-up for SCA’s. How many there know CPR or have access to an AED? Probably very view.
So here’s the plan. We aren’t talking about AED any more. No, we have relabeled AED’s to “Knowledge Worker Preservations Devices” (“KWPD’s”). AED’s are for the general public, but KWPD, ah, those are reserved for a select few. Think it will work?
It could be worse. Is it possible that we don’t know where either the closest fire extinguisher or AED is located? Not to worry, it’s just survival of the fittest at work.
(Next: Hands-only CPR isn’t CPR at all. It’s the “squash the chest to save the brain” protocol. How do you think that will “sell.”)
We come to your home, office, or business with as few as 2 people!!!
So if you need a class call us!!
This week we have a first aid class on Wednesday April 9 in Toms River and an Adult/Child/Infant CPR AED and choking class on Thursday April 10 in Thompson Park.
