Be a lifesaver: Learn CPR

Some people live, but many more die: That’s the true reality behind Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. But what’s even truer is the possibility — even though seemingly minute — of giving patients a second chance at life, and another opportunity to once again breathe on their own.
Annually, less than eight percent of the 380,000 people who suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survive, according to the American Heart Association. The AHA also notes that effective bystander CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim’s chance of survival — but only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander.
I clearly remember my first time doing CPR on someone. It was in 2006, and I was enrolled in an EMT class and had just received my CPR card. I was extremely “green” and inexperienced. I was scared. But I also, allegedly, had this so-called quasi-godlike power.
As I knelt down next to the patient to begin chest compressions, I think the overwhelming adrenaline rush initially blurred my vision — it took me awhile to recognize that the life I was trying to save was my friend’s father. This definitely wasn’t, in my wildest imagination, what I was hoping for.
But there’s a certain amount of professionalism and proficiency that had to take place that Sunday afternoon. I became focused, and fell into a rhythm. I refused to hand off my job until we transferred the patient over to the hospital’s emergency room staff. I was drenched in the trio of sweat, awe and pride.