High School CPR Training can save lives. Of all the things we worry about in our country, the number one cause of death in the United Sates is by far, sudden cardiac death. It is more commonly known as cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is also the #1 cause of death for U.S. women. In fact, more women died in 2012 from cardiac arrest in the United States than men! The number one killer in the U.S. could be greatly reduced with a huge increase in people in the public that know how to fight it. High School CPR Training gives students the knowledge that can increase, by double or triple, survivability in a cardiac arrest patient. When we combine CPR with the use of an AED – survivability can be increased tremendously. Without High School CPR Training , we unfortunately maintain our status quo of death for sudden cardiac death victims.
Oklahoma Rep. Emily Virgin and Sen. John Sparks recently passed a house bill that requires Oklahoma high schoolers to take High School CPR training courses between 7th grade and the graduation from high school. Hallelujah! That is fantastic and is what I hope to be a trend across the nation for many reasons. The lack of High School CPR Training allows untold numbers of senseless deaths in the U.S. each year alone. CPR training should be mandatory through out high schools in the U.S. Thank you KGOU, for reporting this story. Perhaps legislators across the country will follow Oklahoma’s lead.
Steps of CPR training
Here are the steps of CPR training that these kids will be required to learn:
- If someone is passed out, call 911
- If they are breathing, turn them on their side and make sure they keep breathing
- If they are NOT breathing, start pushing on their chest hard and fast – and don’t stop
That’s it. It’s basic, and cheap for this kind of non-credentialed CPR training to be taught. Despite the cheap price tag – CPR training can be priceless.
As a bonus, CPR training not only teaches what to do when a person is unconscious and in cardiac arrest, but teaches what to do if someone is unconscious and NOT in cardiac arrest. We all hope optimistically, that the vast majority of high school students will go on to attend college. As I have written about before in Georgia CPR News, it’s important for college students to know CPR for those who are in cardiac arrest, but also have CPR training so they know what to do for those who are passed out and are breathing. They will learn in this training that regardless of the reason a person is passed out, their life is in danger and 911 needs to be called.
So Kudos to Oklahoma – Let’s get the rest of the states to follow along!