Should First Aid/CPR Be Mandatory Classes in High School? (free issue)
Teens saved a life with naloxone because they took a first aid course
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I taught first aid for the Red Cross in the late 1980s. My students were always adults, never teens. I wondered about that. I have long believed that first aid and CPR classes should be mandatory for high school graduation. These could be part of a gym or health program. Can you imagine the good that would do? Knowing that most people around you in a grocery store or restaurant would know what to do if you collapsed? Or knowing that if there was a bike accident, any passer-by would be able to give aid to the injured cyclist?
I remember many people telling me something like, “Oh I can’t take a first aid or CPR course because I just panic in emergencies.” My answer was always the same. “You panic because you don’t know what to do.” I also used to tell my students that they likely won’t remember everything they would learn in any first aid class. But if they remembered the basics, they were already miles ahead of everyone else who hadn’t taken a class. Even knowing how to assess an accident scene for safety and how to call 911 effectively are enormously helpful and can save lives.
So why am I writing about this now?
Two teens were attending a party and decided to bring a naloxone kit with them, just in case. According to this CTV news article, they suspected that people would be taking drugs there. The 16-year-olds had taken an elective first aid course at their high school in Quebec and knew the importance of using naloxone in an emergency situation. They came across a classmate at the party who had lost consciousness and they couldn’t find a pulse. The teens’ quick actions to use the naloxone and call 911 saved the girl’s life. Hours later, they got a text from her, thanking them for saving her.
The teens’ quick actions to use the naloxone and call 911 saved the girl’s life.
As a nurse, I literally saved lives. I know the high that comes with knowing that you played a role in this. But I can’t imagine how these two teens felt knowing that they made the right decision to take that first aid course, to listen to their intuition and bring the naloxone to the party, and to identify someone in need and act appropriately.
If you want to learn more about the importance of naloxone as a life-saving tool and how easy it is to use, I wrote about it in this blog post over at Decipher Your Health: Adding Naloxone to Your First Aid Kit.
More people need life-saving training
Accidents happen and people get sick. Quick action can help reduce the amount of damage from an injury or illness and can save a life. So why don’t more people take first aid and CPR courses?
CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or even triple a person’s chance of survival.
The results of a poll conducted in 2019 showed that 75% of Americans were confident that they could do basic first aid, which includes bandaging a cut, performing the Heimlich maneuver, and using an epinephrine pen. But only 54% were confident that they could perform CPR and only 37% felt they knew how to use an AED (automated external defibrillator). These are small machines that anyone can use to help if someone has lost their pulse.
Given that more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur every year outside of a healthcare facility in the U.S., knowing how to give CPR and use an AED is important. According to the American Heart Association, “CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or even triple a person’s chance of survival. Yet less than half of all people who have a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital receive CPR.”
It's understandable that someone who hasn’t received training might be scared to step in, fearing that they may cause more harm. But they don’t need to worry if they are helping to the best of their ability. Good Samaritan laws are in effect in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, in the U.S. A similar law exists in Canada, and the province of Quebec actually takes it a step further, stating that people must provide help in any way they can. This could mean just calling 911, but it could also go further depending on your training. For example, as a nurse, I would be expected to provide a higher level of help in a medical emergency than someone who has no medical or healthcare training at all.
So how about you? Do you have any first aid or CPR training? Do you have or are you considering having a naloxone kit available? Leave your comments below. Let’s get a conversation going.