Did you know that CPR education is now required in the D.C. metro area to
graduate high school? Trainings are designed by the American Heart
Association to train groups of 20 students in one class period. Washington,
D.C., Maryland and Virginia all require CPR education in order to graduate
high school. The requirements for students include learning adult and child
CPR, how to respond to choking and use of an automatic external
defibrillator (AED). Thirty-seven states in the United States now have this
as a graduation requirement.
So why is it so important to learn CPR? Approximately 350,000 cardiac
arrests occur every year outside of the hospital setting. Less than 10
percent of those survive. A cardiac arrest is when an electrical
malfunction occurs in the heart, causing it to stop beating normally.
Victims will begin gasping or become unresponsive within minutes, and can
die soon after if there is no intervention. Only half of these victims get
the immediate help they need. Sadly, 70 percent of cardiac arrests happen
in the home, and more than half of unresponsive victims from a cardiac
arrest are surrounded by loved ones who are unprepared for a CPR emergency.
Learning CPR and how to use an AED will prevent you from watching a loved
one die in front of you, simply because you did not know how to respond.
Life saving skills have been documented back to the 1700’s when
mouth-to-mouth was first used on a drowning victim. Today the widespread
application of user- friendly AEDs in the community aims to decrease the
risk of dying from a cardiac arrest. As time passes and the irregular heart
rhythm that causes the cardiac arrest progresses, the risk of dying
increases by 7-10 percent. Simple and easy-to-use AEDs now appear in
airports, federal buildings, golf courses, shopping malls and schools.
Defibrillation is the process of sending an electrical shock to the heart
to allow the return of a normal heart rhythm. Washington, D.C. and Maryland
require by law AED placement in health clubs and gyms. Virginia requires
AEDs in schools. There are also Good Samaritan laws that protect those who
respond in an emergency, with the intent to save a life, from any civil
liability or injury.
The American Heart Association (AHA) and our own state legislatures have
set some high goals for all of us to start learning these life saving
skills, not only for high schoolers, but for our entire community. By 2020,
the AHA aims to train 20 million people in life saving CPR skills. This
past June we celebrated National CPR and AED Awareness Week to raise
awareness of the need to train effectively in our communities.
Stork Childbirth Education trains new parents, nannies, caregivers and
healthcare professionals in CPR for infants, children and adults. We train
using the American Heart Association guidelines and hold group and private
classes, in the D.C. Metro area and Baltimore. Dr. Nicole Lang and Beth
Shedlosky, NP, both in private practice at Washington Pediatric Associates,
are hosting a family CPR and AED class on September 23rd at
10:00 a.m. To enroll, visit
StorkChildbirthEd.com. If you have more
questions, email us at info@storkchildbirthed.com.
