CPR in the Schooling System

For decades the controversy regarding CPR in the school systems all over the world has been very prevalent in our society. Should children learn CPR and be able to save a life? The law has already been passed in Alabama, Arizona (Guidelines for CPR course if the school wants to offer it), Arkansas, Colorodo (recommended the course, not mandatory), Georgia, Idaho, Illinois (Course is offered but it’s not mandatory), Indiana (Students can opt out with a waver), Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland (Not required to graduate), Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York (If schools offer good reason they can defer the law in their district), North Carolina, North Dakota (State funding is available but the course is not mandatory), Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. States that have had the bill introduced Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

On Tuesday October 21, 2014 Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the CPR in schools bill that makes it mandatory for CPR training to be taught in our schools. This can still be rejected by the board or regents if they don’t see it fit in our curriculum. They would have to

If you are already CPR certified then make sure you know where the nearest CPR equipment is (AED, safety gloves, breathing mask, oxygen if possible). Our high school already has an AED, which is located across the hall from the nurse’s office, so if you are trained make sure you know where this is, save a life.

The Difference Between Life and Death

Knowing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is one of the most important assets a person can have. CPR is the artificial pumping of the heart through chest compressions while mouth-to-mouth respiration is administered. This process allows oxygenated blood to be pumped artificially through the body by another person. CPR training is extremely important because 92% of the people experiencing cardiac arrest will not survive if it’s not administered.

Nearly 400,000 people go into cardiac arrest or experience heart failure every day in the United States. On average about 10% of these victims in out-of-hospital situations will survive solely on the CPR certified bystanders around them and how far away advanced medical care is from them.  This also can be affected by improper CPR administration, don’t follow the examples you see in movies. CPR is more than just pumping someone’s chest once or twice, tilting their head back and breathing into their mouth until they start coughing, it is much more than that. There is a small bone in the chest called the Xyphoid Process that if a person’s hands are placed wrong can become dislodged and puncture a lung or other organs. There are far more compressions that need to be administered as well. It is more likely to kill them if this ‘form’ of CPR is used.

If a person goes into cardiac arrest and there is no bystander that has CPR training the likelihood of survival is low. If there is someone to administer the lifesaving technique they can double or triple the victim’s chances of survival. The immediate use of CPR with an automated external defibrillator (AED) can more than double a victim’s chance of survival. It is actually the only way to restore the victim’s heart rhythm back to normal in most cases. The downside to this is that 64% of Americans have never even seen an AED, let alone know how to use it.

Every minute that passes without the administration of CPR especially without an AED reduces the chances of survival by 7-10%. Within 4-6 minutes the victim may become brain dead or biologically dead (past salvation). After 10 minutes very few rescues occur. Learning CPR is a lifesaving tool that can only help those around you.