The importance of knowing the basics for CPR
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Everyone knows CPR can save lives, but not everyone knows how to do it.
Whether you're at the beach and someone is drowning or you're at a family event and someone suffers a heart attack, learning CPR now can help save a life later.
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children, according to the CDC. Kids between one and four years old are the most at risk.
"Unfortunately, I had one client one time come in, and they took the class because their three-year-old nephew died. And they didn't know what to do. The child was on top of the pool. They had toys and the child was attracted to the toys and fell in," Senior Instructor at RGV CPR Michael Escamilla said.
Escamilla said it's a story he hears far too often. Someone in his class learns CPR after a tragedy.
"CPR training gets you the basics of keeping someone alive until a medical emergency arrives," Escamilla said.
Every second counts, whether it's a drowning or heart attack. What makes a difference between life and death is knowing how to correctly do chest compressions.
"There's a statistic by the American Heart Association, every minute that you're not compressing, it's 10 percent of life. So, you have about 10 minutes," Escamilla said.
When someone goes into cardiac arrest, their heart stops pumping blood. If someone is doing CPR, they mimic the heart, and help the body move that blood.
It helps keep someone alive until a medical team arrives and takes over.
"And a lot of times, and you'll hear also with doing CPR, sometimes the outcomes are not very favorable. But you want to give everybody a chance, that's the key," Escamilla said.
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