Knowing how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (otherwise known as CPR) can literally be the difference between life and death. It’s a life-saving skill that as many people as possible should learn, as you never know when you may need to save a person’s life.

In one year alone, 475,000 Americans are at risk of dying from a cardiac arrest. And globally, it can claim more lives than certain types of cancers, pneumonia, auto accidents, firearms, HIV, and house fires combined.

But if you know what actions to immediately take if someone does experience a cardiac arrest and there are no medical professionals around, you can massively increase the victim’s chance of surviving. 

So, here are three reasons why learning CPR is so important.

1. CPR Awareness in Minimal

Did you know that less than 50% of SDR victims receive CPR from bystanders? This low percentage indicates how little awareness and training people have in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. 

When cardiac arrests occur in public, many people are not prepared or equipped to deal with the patient and do not know what to do when someone suddenly collapses. This reduces the number of victims who receive immediate CPR in public drastically, which increases their chances of mortality. 

And as well as not being trained in the life-saving skill, bystanders often choose not to act for other reasons, including:

  • The repercussions and legal risks they may face for performing the wrong CPR technique
  • Causing more harm to the victim
  • Causing harm to themselves

However, when people have proper CPR training and knowledge, these factors become less of a concern, and attention is placed on saving a person’s life. Just by receiving professional training from an organization like United Medical Education, you could be the one person that knows how to save another life in a crowded room.

2. It Can Save a Person’s Life

The act of CPR helps to keep oxygenated blood flowing to the heart and brain when an SDR (sudden cardiac arrest) occurs. And when the heart becomes unable to pump blood, it can result in the organ and tissues dying within minutes. 

Not only this, but the brain can only survive between four and six minutes after the heart stops, which is why immediate help is paramount if you’re in a location without paramedics or doctors. 

And as the number one killer worldwide, there are more chances of this happening than you might think, with 69% of cardiac arrests happening at home and another 18.8% in public.

If you learn CPR, you will know how to effectively save someone else’s life with strategies that work.  

3. It’s Not Difficult to Learn

CPR isn’t that difficult to learn, and you don’t need to be a doctor to perform it on someone. It’s a set of hand movements that involve:

  • Placing the heel of your hand on the center of the person’s chest.
  • Placing your other hand on top, interlacing your fingers.
  • Pressing down on the chest about two inches, and then releasing.
  • Repeating quickly and performing around 100 compressions per minute.

You’ll need to keep the compressions going at the same rate until paramedics arrive, and sometimes it may be for an extended period, which can be quite tiring. Studies have reported that a patient will have a better chance of survival if consistent CPR is continued for up to 38 minutes or longer.

However, a CPR certification course will teach you how to approach these difficult situations in easy steps. You’ll have a valuable skill that’s easy to achieve and can be used anywhere you go.

Learn CPR Today

We recommend that everyone learn CPR. It is not difficult to learn and doesn’t require a huge time commitment to enroll in a course. And if the minimal amount of training isn’t enough of an incentive, perhaps the prospect of potentially saving someone’s life will be.