CPR, or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, is a technique that can be used to save lives in many different situations. It is not a technique that only trained doctors can use either. There is plenty of online CPR course that will help anyone become CPR certified. These classes, however, are optional. If you were to make them compulsory for school age students, perhaps as part of a health class, then, potentially, many lives could be saved as CPR becomes common knowledge. In this article, we will look at the benefits of living in a world where children are raised with the skills to save lives:
What Is CPR?
Before we get into the benefits of knowing CPR, we should go over exactly what CPR is. CPR is employed when someone is not breathing and their heart is not beating. A whole litany of medical problems can cause this, some of the most commonly thought of being heart attacks and strokes. These problems can affect anyone, so CPR is not a niche skill, but rather one that can become useful to anyone, at any point in their life. While some jobs require people to learn this life saving skill such as emergency responders and teachers, a good majority of people still do not know this.
What Are The Benefits Of Knowing CPR?
The obvious benefit is the ability to aid in saving a life. This increases with the more people that know how to CPR and are certified since CPR can be tiring, it can prove extremely helpful to have the ability to switch off while performing this maneuver. Outside of the medical benefits, knowing CPR and being certified in it can be helpful in other ways. For example, when applying for a job, having a CPR certification to list as a special skill can go far in putting you above other applicants.
How Would We Make This Compulsory For Youth?
A big question would be how to make the youth of a generation learn CPR? Well, the answer is actually quite simple and we already do it with other skills. If we introduce CPR certification training to public schools, either as its own class or more practically as a part of the standard health classes. This would require that these classes be held to high, up-to-date ACLS standards. A starting point would be ACLS algorithms by United Medical Education.
If you think this idea is a little too much, consider the fact that we already do it with other skills that we believe school aged children should learn. To cite a specific example, many high schools now require driver’s education as a course to pass before a student can graduate. Using the same method with regards to CPR certification would help not only teach the students CPR, but prepare them with valuable life skills that they are likely to need within their lifetime whether it is to get a job or to save a life.
