I have been looking to find a place at Cornell where I could renew my CPR certification for the last few years, though I didn’t look very hard. However, I was very pleased when I realized that Charlotte had conveniently scheduled classes for us to be up to date on how to provide assistance should someone need CPR in the vicinity. It never hurts to be prepared for unfortunate events.

This was my third time attending a CPR class and I found there was still more for me to learn about how CPR works physiologically. I was unaware that the body already contains enough oxygen for compressions to be effective even if you are unable to give breaths to the unresponsive party. Another thing that caught my attention was the mention, by EMS, of how we should not follow the instructions on the posters set up around the dinning halls when it comes to helping someone in need.

I think one effective way of not needing these posters up to begin with is training the dinning hall staff in the correct procedures for dealing with these emergencies because they are always present. Therefore, you have trained people available for any choking incident in case help is needed. This would optimize the chances that the correct procedures are followed and people don’t get hurt.