There are more than 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests annually in the U.S., and nearly 90% of them are fatal. Which means only 10% are getting the immediate help they need to survive this medical emergency. There are roughly 350,000 resuscitation attempts outside hospitals each year in the United States, with average survival rates of 5%-10%. Some of these cardiac arrests are happening in our workplaces. Since the survival rate is so poor, it means fellow employees are not responding in time if they respond at all.
It can be a frightening experience to see someone have a medical emergency, but knowing how to respond and doing so in a timely manner is key to helping someone survive. This is where training comes into play. Besides the workplace, a cardiac arrest can happen at home, at a restaurant, the mall, an airport or anywhere people are gathered. Having this vital training and the confidence to act can save lives.
CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It can help save a life during cardiac arrest, when the heart stops beating or beats too ineffectively to circulate blood to the brain and other vital organs.
There are several benefits to having a CPR training course in your workplace.
- Confidence to respond — Employees will feel empowered to act and will know what to do if necessary. Many employees don’t respond because they don’t know what to do except to call 911. The minutes it takes an EMS to arrive are lowering the chances of survival if no one does anything.
- Knowledge — Training provides the knowledge employees need to respond as well as a knowledge of the vocabulary used in CPR such as compressions, breaths, head tilt-chin lift and AED.
- Surviving the attack — Survival rates are hard to pin down due to several factors like how quickly someone starts CPR and the age and overall health of the victim, but without CPR the chance of survival is zero, so a confident, knowledgeable employee can initiate CPR as soon as possible and can double or triple a victim’s chances of survival.
- Improves workplace morale — Designated CPR training gives employees a sense of safety at work. They know someone is trained and can respond should the need arise. In fact, the more employees trained, the better. Especially if you have several locations or employees in the field.
- CPR prevents brain death — The heart stops flowing blood to the brain and other vital organs during sudden cardiac arrest. The patient becomes unconscious as the blood supply to the brain decreases. Without the proper flow of blood, brain damage can occur in as little as three minutes. There is the possibility of permanent brain death after nine minutes without blood flow.
There are several organizations that can provide CPR training such as the American Heart Association, the National Safety Council and the American Red Cross. Local colleges and fire departments are other good sources for getting started. These organizations can come in and conduct training at your request. Some have train-the-trainer programs as well.
This is the kind of training we hope nobody ever needs, but if there is a need it can save a life, maybe the life of a loved one or close friend. It is well worth the investment to have regular and ongoing CPR training in the workplace.
