Why are the CPR stat's so low on survival rates?
I have been teaching CPR and first aid for almost a year now, to over 200 students. Students come to me basically in 3 classifications.
1. Eager to learn because they have a sincere desire to help others, their family and fellow worker who might need a trained responder someday. These people understand that the odds of using the information learned is very low, but they also understand that as their age group ages, these odds decrease to the point that when they urn 60, they have a 80% chance of using what hey have learned. Because this knowledge, they are excited to keep current on their training and grasp all the changes that seem to come every 5 years.
2. The second class of students fall in to those who's job and professions require it and they see the need daily because the see the tragedies daily at work. These are the care professionals who make life death decissions.
3. Then there are those who only take it because the employer requires it or will pay for it. They want it the cheapest, the quickest and they really do not give a hoot if they get anything from the training. These students are usually those who find themselves into a situation sooner than the other two classes.
65% of all Sudden Cardiac Arrests happen in public places, Guess where these people are? Yup, in public places. The other classes are with family and friends at home, or at work, they are not in the general public where the events most often
happen.
I believe this is why if your Hispanic you have a 15% chance of someone responding to you that is trained, Black 18% and White 24%. The third class is those who did not give a hoot about learning and their for at their moment of glory fail.
I get calls all the time for people who want it cheep and fast, if they could just buy a card they would. Dentists, DR's or Lawyers will not go on the cheap but often it is their offices that call and want the cheapest rate for CPR training for their staff, just so they can meet some regulation. Thus is why CPR survival rates are so low. just 30% of sudden cardiac arrest victims survive the event.
What can we do to improve the odds? Get rid of the knock off trainers that train so weakly that no one learns. There are online trainers selling cards for a hour of training and no hands on training on site for $19.95. To those who buy from these guys they need just let me wait for the EMT's because they will not help me and most likely will do me damage. If we want really to save lives we will seek out the best training and not the cheapest. Here are the hard facts:
- CPR takes 3 1/2 hours of instruction at least the first time, my experience its the same for re-cert's because of my previous paragraphs, I find they do not know as much as what they profess.
- CPR with First Aid is at least a 5 to 6 hour class. EMS Safety Services Curriculum is superior to American Heart Association, only because AHA is moving away from instructor lead training
- CPR with Pediatric CPR and First Aid for Daycare workers is a 8 hour class and includes asthma and other respiratory issues.
Success of CPR begins with the choice of class. Can you pay to much for quality training to safe a life? I don't think so.
Read this
article in my blog