You can save a life with CPR; even if you’ve never taken a CPR class. How do I know? My mom saved my dad’s life when he went into full cardiac arrest.
My mom, then 71 years old, was signed up for a CPR class because my dad, age 86, had had a heart attack just weeks earlier. The CPR class was canceled because my parents lived in rural Minnesota and not enough people signed up. The next morning my mom heard a crash in the hall, it was my dad, laying there, no signs of life. My mom ran to the phone in the kitchen (no cell phones then) and called 911. The dispatcher said, “Stay on the line,” but my mom could hear my dad’s throttled breathing as he was slipping away. My mom threw the phone down and ran to him doing only what she had seen on TV – chest compressions and precordial thumps to the chest. She didn’t know how to do the breathing part, so she stuck to the compressions. As his color started to return, she ran back to the dangling phone and the 911 dispatcher said, “Grace, stay on the phone help is on the way.” My mom could hear his death throttle breathing again and ran back to my dad and again started chest compressions. This went on back and forth for 20 minutes until the ambulance arrived from town.
When the paramedics got there, they defibrillated my father 4 times on the way into town and again at the hospital as his heart continued to go into v-fib. The paramedics said “Good job, Grace you kept him alive until we got here.” I’m happy to report my dad received emergency triple bypass, suffered no signs of brain damage from the prolonged arrest, and lived for many years after that.
Gracie saved a life and you can too. It may be your sweetheart, your child, or a stranger. There is no reason to wait to learn how to do this. Here is a quick guide to hands-only CPR:
- Don’t be afraid to act fast. Your actions can only help.
- Call 911 you will be asked for your location. Be specific about the situation.
- Push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of any tune that is 100 to 120 beats per minute (think Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive”). Immediate CPR can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.
Cardiac arrest – an electrical malfunction in the heart that causes an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) and disrupts the flow of blood to the brain, lungs and other organs – is the number one cause of death in the United States and the world. Almost 90% of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests die. CPR, especially if performed in the first few minutes of cardiac arrest, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival. Go to the American Heart Association website and find a class.
No reason not to learn a life-saving skill. Do it. You can save a life.
~ Coach Kimberly