Be Prepared With CPR Sacramento Classes

By Cecile Ingram


It's everyone's nightmare to be there when a friend, relative, or stranger on the street collapses and doesn't seem to be breathing. Don't be an uneducated bystander. Take a CPR Sacramento class and be prepared to save a life. It only takes a few hours of your time. Or schedule 6 hours to take a combination CPR and first aid class.

We breathe in oxygen. It mixed with blood and the heart pumps the oxygenated blood throughout the body and to the brain. If the heart stops beating for just 4-6 minutes, the brain will be severely damaged. CPR doesn't restart the heart. It's a manual way of keeping the heart alive and circulating blood to the brain until professional help arrives. Call 911, then begin CPR and continue until help arrives. CPR Sacramento classes will teach you the basic techniques that can save a life.

To keep skills current, lay persons should take a class every 2 years. In 2010 the American Heart Association and the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation updated their guidelines. If you haven't take a class since 2010, it's definitely time for a refresher course. Healthcare professionals may need to re-certify yearly.

There's a CPR Sacramento class to fit into any schedule. Take a daytime class, an evening class, or a weekend class. Learn from experienced professionals. Instructors are paramedics, nurses, EMTs, or firefighters. Classroom instruction provides opportunity for asking questions and practicing techniques on manikins. It's a requirement for many types of employment. Use online videos and class workbooks to review techniques and procedures.

A basic CPR class will teach techniques for clearing the airway, chest compressions, and breathing assistance. Instructors will demonstrate the differing techniques for adults, children, and infants using manikins. Students will practice what they have learned also on manikins. Take a few hours to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Take a few hours more with a combination CPR/first aid class to be prepared for any emergency.

Classes for healthcare professionals teach basic use of an AED (automated external defibrillator), applying resuscitation masks and bag valve masks, and how to perform CPR alone and with a partner. ACLS Certification, (advanced cardiovascular life support), is required for doctors, nurses, emergency room personnel, and paramedics. Advanced classes include advanced CPR techniques, use of electrical shock and/or medications to get the heart working, and how to put a tube into a patients windpipe when breathing is obstructed. Childcare workers need a Pediatric CPR and First Aid combination class for licensing and certification.

If you need certification for employment, be sure you know what level of training is required and what certification is necessary. Terminology is not always consistent and classes from different providers will have different titles. Classes for basic certification usually take about 3 hours. Often CPR is combined with First Aid for a morning and afternoon session. Advanced certification classes require 12 hours of instruction.

If your employer doesn't offer onsite training, check online or in the yellow pages for local organizations offering CPR Sacramento classes. The American Heart Association and the Red Cross offer classes in almost every town and city. Many recreation departments and adult education facilities offer CPR and first aid instruction.




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