Summer is here and it brings it own set of season related dangers. It is not new that we are fragile creatures, and it’s mostly the realization of just how fragile we are that keeps us safe most of the time. Caution is often not enough, and dangers tend to catch us unawares. That’s where we need to be able to take care of others and ourselves. Often being able to do that will mean the difference between life or death.
The American Red Cross has identified some pretty alarming statistics on this topic. This statistic is for all of North America, but it’s still very relevant to us here in Canada.
- The leading cause of death for children below 4 is drowning.
- A child that age can drown as fast as within one minute.
- 88 percent of all cardiac arrest scenarios occur at home.
- The number of cardiac arrest victims that survive is below 7%.
- The reason for that is because people near them didn’t know CPR.
- The number of people killed by cardiac arrest is over 200,000 a year.
- Over a quarter of the people who die of cardiac arrest could be saved.
People often die in these situation because people witnessing this horrifying event simply didn’t know what to do. CPR is needed when reviving a cardiac arrest victim or a drowning victim. This alone is reason enough to go and enroll in First Aid CPR training in Toronto or in any one of our other learning centres.
Waiting for 911 to arrive is delivering a death sentence. The time it takes for permanent death or brain death to occur in an adult during cardiac arrest or drowning is only 4-6 minutes. This time is shorter still in the case of a child. When a person drowns or falls down with a stopped heart, the paramedics simply won’t be there on time.
It is up to the people witnessing the event to step in and administer the necessary help to the dying person. There are many free Red Cross CPR classes you can take, or go for the more extensive and full First Aid CPR training we are offering in our many teaching centres.
First Aid CPR training is crucial in too many situations to ignore. It is our firm belief that every adult, especially family people with kids, should know those life saving techniques.
Let us be there for you and help you one day be there for another human being in need.
