Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a common first-aid procedure performed on a person whose heart has gone into cardiac arrest. The arrest causes the pulse and breathing to stop and can cause serious damage to the brain and the heart. CPR techniques are aimed at protecting vital organs by performing rhythmic pumping until the body regains its normal functionality.
At what age can children learn CPR?
The hard fact is that any person who goes into cardiac arrest will die, unless someone intervenes with emergency first-aid. Most first-aid CPR courses are aimed at adults given concerns that children aren’t strong enough to perform the necessary compressions. However, a recent study by British researchers concluded that children as young as 13 years of age are capable of performing CPR effectively.
The European Resuscitation Council recently published a report that was endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), which recommends 12 years as the optimal age for teaching CPR to school-going children.
Kids Save Lives!
While the world keeps investing large sums of money preventing car crashes each year, unsuccessful resuscitation causes 20 times more deaths than road accidents. In Europe and the USA alone, around 700,000 people die each year due to cardiac arrest and failed CPR. By the time professional medical help arrives, brain cells have already started to die. A successful CPR administered within that time can save up to 100,000 lives every year.
As children make up a large part of our society, it’s entirely possible that they’re witnesses to cases of cardiac arrest. Arming them with the necessary knowledge of administering proper CPR can have great benefits and save lives. It’ll improve the overall rate of resuscitation while increasing the chances of survival from a major health problem in society.
Confidence and Skills for Distressful Situations
The large part of the population of Canada is made up of children. More often than not children find themselves in situations that require emergency first-aid. There have been cases in the media about young people who were able to save the life of adults who had gone into cardiac arrest. Having been trained in the proper methods and techniques of CPR and other first-aid procedures increase the confidence levels of young people.
It also enables them to remain calm in situations where others might panic and create further problems. Often, the difference between saving someone and losing someone, comes down to how a distressful situation is handled!
A Necessary Life Skill
No matter the age, learning proper first-aid and CPR techniques is always a good idea. It could very well be the reason your loved one is saved. Metro Safety is an authorized Canadian Red Cross partner providing first aid training courses in BC to equip the local people with the knowledge required to handle emergency medical situations and even performing CPR. Contact us today for more information!
