Do You Have CPR Training?

[Tow411]

Topic Originally Created by Lee in April of 2003:

 

I wish I had taken CPR classes now, Thank God for 911 dispatchers ! I had always thought that maybe I should take a CPR class because of my business,little did I know I would need to use it at home !

On Friday night I had just returned from a motorcycle accident when I heard frantic knocking on my front door,it was my nephew Sam,He and a friend were house-sitting at my Mom & Dad's while they were gone on a trip.He said " I need your help fast,I can't wake my friend up,I think he's dying".It seems that Sams' seventeen year old friend had gotten into my fathers medicine cabinet and taken a couple of handfuls of various pills,looking for a high.

I found this kid,(Zack) flat on the floor not breathing,my sister was on the phone with 911,but was too distressed to do anything other than cry and scream.I took the phone and the dispatcher instructed me on performing CPR.After about fifteen or twenty minutes of CPR with not much response ( other than vomiting on me ),the aid crew arrived.They admistered some type of an antidote for narcorics overdose and used a hand-operated pump to keep him breathing,they did find that he had a pulse.

After about thirty minutes of this he began to breathe on his own and spit up a bunch of pills,he then sat up and said " what happened ?". Although he is in Intensive care at an area hospital with lung problems,it looks like he is going to make it.

Just when I thought I had experienced every kind of stress possible,here comes something else ! On one hand I feel blessed at being able to help save this young man's life,on the other hand,I would just as soon never go through this again.

One thing I do know,should this have happened at a place where there was no telephone, I don't think that seventeen year-old boy would be alive right now unless I had taken a CPR class! If you haven't done so,then seriously think about it.I know I am going to!

 

Unknown Member said:

I was on the Cle Elum fire dept in Washington and went thru the EMT 4 program at the hospital in Yakima. I am a firm believer in everyone having basic first aid and CPR training. In our line of work, odds are you will get into a situation that will require you to give aid.
Especially if you cover rural areas.

 

TNTOW said:

I feel lucky to have 3 out of four employees including myself affiliated with either the Fire or EMS department and trained to the First Responder, EMT-B, or EMT-IV level. A part time employee who was also a Paramedic had to give up the part time gig when he was promoted to EMS shift supervisor. You can contact your local Red Cross or American Heart Association to find a date for a class. If they cannot set you up with a class you might try the fire department or hospital in your area for a schedule.

 

Kim Inman said:

I need to take time to recertify. Was a Paramedic for 10 years but haven't taken class since I quit that. They seem to change things every so often. I think everyone should take a CPR class at some point.

 

Jackmaster said:

this is a little off subject butttt the Red cross also has an emergency cpr and emergency training for pets.
I found this to be very helpful to go along with human cpr. You might be suprised at how many pets we find at accidents.
The training is very good as one of the things they show you is how to muzzle mo9st any cat or dog so they cant hurt themselvs or responders, using only gauze or a towel. glen

 

In Memory of Eagletow who said:

as assist chief in charge of training ,i of course have the training and am an instructor . for our department . we have a fire department and an ems department and until now were not cross trained in any aspect . our ems people do not have any fire training but our fire people have some ems . with in a few years we will probably make a requirement to be at least an mfr to be on our FD.

 

Lee Replied:

thats an amazing story! I'm glad you were there to save his life. I'm sure he wouldn't have lived the 15-20 min it took for the medics to arrive w/o your help. The stress you go through during an emergency like that is tremendous and I'm glad you were able to keep calm and focused enough to perform the job.

You are a hero- you saved his life!

 

Resqtator said:

Lee,

Way to go. You done good! And very good advice to take a cpr class and keep it current. If one is not sure about doing it on strangers at least learn it for one's own family. Besides, those pocket masks are cheap. They are constantly doing studies on what is most effective, learn more, then update the procedures about every 5 years. We just had an update, so now is a good time to take a class. Going through the motions without the training ususlly doesn't work well like in your case, Lee. You're a cool listener!

[WorkSafe]

While it is best that your entire staff goes through CPR Training. Having at minimal one trained staff member is better than having none.

 

How many within your operation have CPR Certification?