Stayin' Alive

This past Saturday morning, I attended the Red Cross Save-a-Life Saturday free CPR class. When I arrived at the class, I was surprised to see that there were close to 50 people who also shared the same interest in learning practical life-saving skills. Several workers and volunteers were also available and circulated around the room to help answer any questions or assist in teaching. We first learned how to bandage a wound properly and actually had to partner up and practice on a stranger. Then, they went over what to do with a shock victim. And finally, they taught hands-only CPR, where we watched a video, were given some additional information and demonstration, and then they let us loose on the CPR dummies. We partnered up again and took turns practicing chest compressions. Click here for the handout we received in class.

Some CPR pointers that I learned from this class:

• When doing chest compressions, you will likely break a few ribs
• Each compression needs to be two inches in depth
• It is actually really tiring and quite difficult to continue these compressions for an extended period of time
• Do chest compressions to the rhythm of 100 beats per minute (or the disco song “Stayin’ Alive”)
• Put all your weight over the victim and bend from the waist

Here is the actual video we watched during the class:

How to Perform Hands-Only CPR on Howcast