My Opinion On Why Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation And First Aid Certification Should Be Mandatory Courses

CPR is a procedure taking when the heart fails to keep beating it mimics the hearts beat to increase the chance of survival. First Aid helps increase the chance of recovery and prevents further injuries. You shouldn’t have to wait for a nurse or ambulance to help someone in an emergency. Everyone should be able to perform without hesitating or being a bystander. Not knowing what to do is everyone’ fear in an emergency. CPR and First Aid should be mandatory courses, it can help save lives, and lower the bystander rate.

CPR and First Aid should be mandatory in all high school curriculums. How many of you are aware on how to administrate First Aid or CPR? With a show of hands how many people know how to administrate First Aid of CPR in an emergency? Most students are rarely equipped with first aid education. Students aren’t aware of risks they take or the possibilities of emergencies that may occur. This goes for not only high school students but also college students. With that being said nurses aren’t always on school premises. Let’s say a student goes to a party and they end up drinking too much and become unresponsive.

A students first instinct may be to call the 911. But as thy call 911 they leave them on the ground because they have no idea what to do. In this case having first aid training would come in handy. A student with training would have called 911 while trying to keep the person up right and conscious, making sure the stray hydrated by drinking lots of water. In a scenario that the student has passed out they would lie them down on there side. While making sure their breathing is regular. Another key factor is keeping them warm and monitoring them until help has arrived. Wouldn’t you want to be certified in First Aid or CPR?

Many lives can be saved being certified for CPR and First Aide every year. In 2018 about 356,000 out-of- hospital people died from cardiac arrest in the US, because people don’t know what to do. There are over 10,000 cases of cardiac arrest cases in the work place a year in the US. The percentage of Out-of-Hospital cardiac arrest happens 39.5% in public, 27.5% in homes, and 18.2% in nursing homes. About 90% of out-patient cardiac arrest victims die when First Aid or CPR isn’t administrated. For example schools like Park High School, Case, and Horlick all share one nurse. Colleges like gateway don’t have a nurse on duty they have a nursing teacher that is qualified to be a nurse. But what happens if a nurse isn’t there to teach a class or if you can’t get to her in time someone may need to preform a form of CPR or First Aid. There’s a lot of reason to why all students should be certified in CPR or First Aid. Anything can happen at any moment in time.

Being certified in CPR and First Aid can lower the rate of bystanders. Being a bystander and watching someone in need isn’t ever a good feeling. Another example in 2017 a lady named Kristin Lonsbury frantically pulled over on the highway as her 6-week-old daughter had began chocking. As she grabbed her baby she called 911 trying to keep her awake as she was losing consciousness. She couldn’t do CPR because she didn’t know what to do. Luckily Virgina Marsh a nurse on her way to work pulled over to help she began giving the baby the Heimlich. The baby survived but these are cases were everyone should be Certified in CPR and First Aid.

These are the reasons why CPR and First Aid would benefit everyone. All high schools should mandate CPR and First Aid in their curriculums. Saving lives should be a priority of our society. We shouldn’t have to sit back and see our loved ones in need of help. CPR and First Aid classes should be mandatory courses, it can help saves lives, and lower the rate of bystanders.