And gives me a soapbox to rant about training recurrence:
Monday, Howard, making her way through produce, fell to the ground, split her head open and stopped breathing. And Preston responded.
“I thought ‘I can’t let this lady die,'” Preston later said. “I got up by her head and started doing CPR.”
And so Preston, 47, summoned a skill she learned approximately 25 years earlier when as a mother of two in Andrews and took CPR classes.
“You don’t ever think you will use it,” Preston said. “I never dreamed I would ever have to use it at all.”
…
“She was not breathing at all,” Preston said. “I thought of my mom and dad, and if it was my mom and dad, I would want someone to do everything they could.”
Howard, 69, started breathing again, and Preston remained at her side when paramedics arrived prepared Howard for her trip to Midland Memorial. At the hospital, Howard underwent surgery to insert a pacemaker. She was released Tuesday and is in good spirits…
So, 25 years after her training, Mrs. Preston was able to save a life (and good for you, Mrs. Preston!).
Why, then, do the CPR cards expire? Knowledge lives as long as the giver lives. I’ve been taking CPR classes since 1981, and except for some minor details, it’s been the same. Oh, a few fewer breaths, a little more pushing, but it’s the same within the realm of reality.
Long lives to all. Take a CPR class, and then eat the card. Expiration dates come to all of us, and it’s not the knowledge that expires.
Is there a GD approved condiment to make the cards more appetizing?
That’s what the “Kentucky Jelly” is for!
When I was being licensed as a teacher down in CA, I got my certification from http://cprtoday.com/ . Took me 15 minutes and the school and state didn’t bat an eye.
Hmmm. I wonder what my Credentialing Department will say after my card passes? “Gee, that CPR class must have scared the *%$# out of you!”
Hehe! Funny!
I agree. Even bad CPR is better than no CPR at all. My first field code save was started w/ ‘bad CPR’ by a bystander.
My appologies to the AHA. I meant no disrespect. I was stuck in the wilderness and it was either my CPR card or a pinecone.
Yearly expiration seems a bit excessive. Especially since EMT certification lasts four years.