While I was keeping my CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) license current, I would have to get re-certified for CPR and First Aid. The classes given in person by the Red Cross cost $50 (last I looked) I've had the classes, I know what they are going to teach or show, so why do I need to pay $50 just to say I know it?
I found online places that would allow you multiple choice questions (so there really is no way to bungle it) and last time I did that, it was something like $16.
I applaud you wanting to be prepared. everyone should know basic
First aid and CPR
They did have an online option but it didn't count if you wanted to be certified - which, if I'm going to do it, could come in handy as sometimes volunteer opportunities want it and such.
And of course, it's more expensive to learn adult and pediatric - which again, why would you only learn adult? - by about $20, even though the in-person class is only a half an hour longer.
It's an arbitrary way to get money, really, because they know they have a monopoly on it. If it was really about making sure as many people as possible were prepared so society would be better off, they'd use some of those donations they get so many of to offer scholarships for people to take the class who want to but can't afford it.
But yeah - reupping is paying for practice mostly, unless they've changed things up like they did with CPR between the first class I took and the last class I took.
They taught us to (if you were alone) give two breaths, followed by 5 chest compression's,
Repeated until help arrived.
Now we are taught not to give breath/respiration's at all, just the compression's.
That was the hardest thing for me to adjust to, and frankly, if I am called upon
In a reallife situation, I know how to be sure the airway is clear, I am not
Concerned about nor afraid of 'catching something' from a victim
Though mouth-to-mouth. To me, it is a necessary part of the
Rescue; what good does it do to the victim if you either
Get their heart beat restarted or you've kept them
Going until more help arrives, if they end up
With severe brain damage from being
In anoxia for too long?
an·ox·i·a
/aˈnäksēə/
noun TECHNICAL
an absence of oxygen.
MEDICINE
an absence or deficiency of oxygen reaching the tissues; severe hypoxia.
"death due to anoxia resulting from strangulation"
When I first learned, it was, as I recall, 15 compressions, then breath, do this on repeat for two minutes, check for pulse, repeat. Then yeah, just compressions.
I don't know that breaths do much for their oxygen levels though, since we're breathing out CO2, hey?
We don't exhale pure CO2, there is quite a lot of unused
O2 in what we exhale. You can use a 'rebreather'
To stay underwater and not leave a trail of bubbles, breathing
Your own exhaled air with the CO2 scrubbed
Out. Military technology. We used them for emergency
Escape in the missile silo's where I worked.