I have been thinking about taking a CPR class for years and finally around to signing up for an 8 hour Adult CPR and Standard First Aid class offered by the Red Cross.
I took the class last Monday, coincidently the day before the huge earthquake devastated Haiti. Watching the news since the, I realized that even with my very basic training that I could give some level of aid in an emergency if something were to happen in Los Angeles or wherever I may be. It is a good feeling.
What was the class like?
There were about 25 people in my class, 22 of them were there because their jobs required them to be certified. I was one of the few people who signed up on my own. The instructor that often times when he polls people that everyone is there because their job requires them to be certified. The Red Cross recommends that someone in every household should have basic First Aid and CPR Training. So it is clear that a lot more people should be volunteering to get the training.
In the morning session we learned about conscious choking, CPR and AED. We took turns performing CPR & AED on dummies. We did a lot of role-playing and critiquing peoples responses. In the afternoon we focused on First Aid. Our classroom looked kind of like a field hospital with people being bandaged and splinted on the floor. We learned how to make splints out of trash or whatever was handy. Much of it was very basic but it gave me the confidence to know that I would be responding to a situation correctly.