For decades, countless people have already taken interest in CPR training yet very few people know how to actively apply their knowledge in saving lives in real life situations. Relatively few even attempt to do resuscitation before real help from paramedics arrive.
Why is it that even with the sheer number of people who have undergone CPR training only a few cases get the benefit of resuscitation attempts?
Panic
The primary reason why people don’t attempt resuscitation is not because they can’t but because their bodies are overpowered with anxiety and panic and so they forgot what they should do first when the situation calls for it. When the body is overpowered with fear and panic, the conscious mind could not catch up that it becomes next to impossible to do an accurate recall on the steps that are needed to be done.
Personal Space
There is also a factor where a person won’t do the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation especially when the person involved is a stranger. This is probably because of a “personal space” factor – whether it is the patient’s space or one’s own – that is up to the person who is going to do the CPR. Indeed, CPR is a classic invasion of personal space. However, there is no such thing as it is when it comes to saving lives. What an individual has to think about is how to save the man before him until the paramedics arrive.
Getting the Facts Straight
Mouth to mouth resuscitation is not compulsory anymore, according to a study that was published in a journal of medicine five years ago. This means to say that chest compressions on its own can already do wonders or perhaps even better than when it is combined with rescue breathing. In fact, chest compressions alone can already increase the chance of patient’s survival with discharge from hospital with satisfactory or good brain function.
As opposed to cases where CPR/chest compression has been done, there is increased risk for brain damage or impaired brain function in people who have not received chest compression before they are brought into the hospital.
When it comes to emergencies, even when you’re not a paramedic or a medical professional – if you’ve received CPR training then you should be able to save one life at a time when the situation calls for it. This is a skill that everyone must have or acquire nowadays because you can never tell whether someone would fall in front of you due to cardiac arrest and if you don’t know what to do – then you risk that person’s life when you could’ve saved him or her.
By receiving training, you are actually doing yourself a favor. Ask yourself what if your loved one needed a CPR and you don’t know what to do? Wouldn’t it be better if you know how to do it so that you can save your loved one and other people for that matter with the knowledge that you have been given and bestowed?