{"id":32409,"date":"2016-06-06T09:43:10","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T01:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/?p=32409"},"modified":"2016-06-29T13:33:38","modified_gmt":"2016-06-29T05:33:38","slug":"cpr-aed-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/2016\/06\/cpr-aed-course\/","title":{"rendered":"CPR + AED Certification Course by the Singapore Heart Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u20184 hours, 4 minutes\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n What would you do with 4 hours of any day? For me, I would have packed it with parental duties, work commitments and perhaps errands!<\/p>\n What would you do with 4 minutes? Most of us are so busy, 4 minutes would pass by without us even noticing it.<\/p>\n But reality is that in the mere 4 minutes, our brain and other vital organs would begin to fail if no oxygen is supplied to it. This effect is irreversible.<\/p>\n The Truth<\/strong> Would we know what to do then? While it is so easy for us to cramp 4 hours of our day with all forms of legitimate activities, if we were to invest that time for a CPR and AED certification course by the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF), it would equip us to be a life saver\u2026when the need arises. Being helpless in this kind of emergencies can be very very crippling and frustrating. We recently heard the real-life recount of how a friend’s 5 year old was resuscitated via CPR after near drowning at a birthday pool party. He was fished out limp and lifeless but was lucky as one of the party guests was CPR-trained. After he was revived, the paramedics took over and rushed him to the hospital. <\/p>\n CPR<\/strong> The AED<\/strong> Do you know how to operate an AED? Would you know how to attach the shock pads, when and how to deliver the shock\u2026.if (touch wood) you were to use it on a loved one? In fact, improper use of an AED machine may be deadly to the casualty and even yourself.<\/p>\n During the course I had so many questions answered, for example:<\/p>\n As a father, a husband and a concerned citizen, one of my resolutions this year is to learn some basic life-saving skills which include CPR and the use of the AED machine.<\/p>\n Which was why I decided to take a week day off work to attend the CPR + AED Course offered by the Singapore Heart Foundation. The CPR and AED certification course is conducted by trained instructors. This course is part of the professional requirement of some medical-related professions (e.g. nurses, healthcare workers) and those that require intense physical work e.g. Fitness trainers.<\/p>\n At the CPR + AED training course, there was a main trainer who shared with us the essential theories, distilling CPR and AED usage into easy-to-remember acronyms for us lay men. The practical hands-on sessions that followed next were not as easy as they looked. Thankfully, the trainers were friendly and patient yet strict, rightly so because this involves saving lives.<\/p>\n After a few rounds of hands-on practices, we had Q&A and then it was down to serious business \u2013 the practical and theory test. Each of us took turns to perform CPR and the use of AED according to strict standards. We were also given a short Multiple-Choice Question Worksheet to complete as a test.<\/p>\n I passed?<\/strong> Too much to ask?<\/strong> Watch this short video of CPR+AED course I’ve attended at the Singapore Heart Foundation:<\/p>\n
\nTruth is, if any one, including my loved ones, would collapse in front of me from a heart attack, I wouldn\u2019t know how to help them apart from dialing for an ambulance. Even though our ambulance services\u2019 response time is 8 to 10 minutes (subject to traffic conditions), precious time would have been wasted waiting for medical help to arrive.<\/p>\n
\nForget about what you see on TV serials, performing proper CPR is not just putting and pumping your two palms together on someone\u2019s chest. Wrong application of CPR not only wastes precious time, it may cause further harm to the casualty.<\/p>\n
\nThese days, most public buildings are equipped with an Automated External Defibrillation (AED) machines. These defibrillators deliver a high-voltage shock to a casualty\u2019s heart during a cardiac arrest. Again, in an emergency, every second counts!<\/p>\n\n
\nYes I did. For now. Though I earned my certificate (valid for 2 years) as a CPR and AED lifesaver, I\u2019m keenly aware that the REAL TEST is when I have to use it on a loved on or any member of the public in a medical emergency. For first time sign-up of the CPR + AED course at the Singapore Heart Foundation, you will bring home an exclusive Mini Anne CPR+AED Kit<\/a> (worth SGD60, made by leading Norwegian medical company Laerdal) which has a DVD and accessories including a chest-height inflatable manikin to practice your CPR and AED usage skills as well as to educate others in your family.<\/p>\n
\n4 hours, is that too much to ask of anyone when it comes to saving a life? Because if it happens, all you have is 4 minutes to save a life and every ticking second counts. So let’s be prepared, not paralysed.<\/p>\n