Straight From the Headlines: Learn CPR Today to Save a Life!

According to a report on CNN.com, “getting CPR within minutes is crucial for someone who's suffered from cardiac arrest, as brain death and permanent death start to occur just four to six minutes after the heart stops.”

Unfortunately, the report also states that more than 95 percent of cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital.

But, if more people would learn CPR, then many of these deaths may not occur. Many people do not want to take the time to learn how to perform CPR, but medical experts say that learning how to do it is much easier than it used to be.

As stated on CNN.com, Dr. Kenneth Rosenfield, an interventional cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, once had a patient whose life was saved because the man's quick-thinking wife knew to perform CPR to the rhythm of the song “Staying Alive”. As a result of a one minute American Heart Association spot she heard on the radio she knew to push very hard, 100 times per minute to the tune of “Staying Alive”.

According to Rosenfield, “You should take a class, but it's easier than it used to be. There's no mouth to mouth. You push on the chest very hard and don't worry about breaking a rib.”

Anyone interested in learning where they can take a CPR class, can visit either the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association to find a class in your area.