If today's news story was about 2 fully loaded 747 planes crashing in the United States we would all hear the headlines before nightfall.
The country would weep for all those lost and demand action be taken to prevent these tragedies from ever happening again.
Imagine if this was the headline every day of the year. At the end of everyday another 2 fully loaded planes crashed in the United States.
Every 1 1/2 minutes Sudden Cardiac Arrest claims the life of another person in the United States. That is 1000 lives every day...Men, Women, Youth and Children are all at risk.
Currently only 5% of all Cardiac Arrest victims survive. Just like the victims of a plane crash the survival rate is small.Their voice seldom heard.
We can significantly improve the survival with wide spread training of CPR and early access to an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), the only known device that restarts a stopped heart.
 Can you teach children CPR?
The short answer is yes. There are a few differences when teaching children as opposed to adults. Children love to learn new things and especially when it something that gives the ability to be a hero.
How young is too young though?
There really isn’t a “too young”. Yes, very young kids are not physically strong enough to compress an adult chest adequately but they can certainly understand that something is very wrong and help needs to be called. If nothing else, the youngest can definitely call 911 and tell the dispatcher what is going on. Around nine or ten kids have the physical strength to accomplish good chest compressions.
Shouldn't we rely on adults to perform CPR when needed?
Often when CPR in needed there are adults near by that have not had any exposure to CPR. Youth today are bright and with early exposure to CPR they will be our HEROS of the future.
AED Access teaching second graders the basics of Compressions Only CPR
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