It is better to be prepared than sorry!
Last week was safety week at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office. I participated a whole day in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and First Aid training to refresh my memory on both topics. I have been taking both trainings for quite some time now and I always learn something new. I feel like it is very important to know these skills to be able to help if someone is ever in an emergency situation. Emergencies can happen at any time and anywhere; I personally once helped a coworker who was choking on a piece of food. My chocking training kicked in and I was able to do abdominal thrusts and get that piece of food out.
During the training the instructor went over different topics such as rattlesnake bites, insect bites/stings, poisoning, stroke, heart attacks, Automated External Defibrillator (AED), CPR, and many more. There were many topics and I was also given a book with an index for each emergency imprinted on the first page of the book with a quick page number reference. My favorite part was practicing on an adult mannequin. For adult CPR, I did two round of 30 compressions and 2 breaths after each set of compressions. Compressions must be at least 2 inches at a rate of 100-120 per minute; at the same time allowing the chest to fully rise before each compression. The instructor mentioned that if I am ever in a situation where I need to use CPR and do not have a mask, it is ok to only do compressions. He also mentioned that the only time I would need to stop compressions is when I am either too exhausted to continue, an AED arrives at the scene, if paramedics or someone else arrives to take over, or if the scene becomes unsafe. Please see image below for full details on adult CPR.
I enjoyed participating in this training and getting to practice once again on the mannequins. I highly recommend for everyone to take this type of training in case a coworker, friend, family member, or stranger ever needs help. It is also important to always have access to a firs aid kit by having one in your vehicle, home, and place of work. We just never know if we will run into one of these situations, and it is better to be prepared.