We’ve talked about cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before. However, it is
CPR and AED Awareness Week. So today, let’s revisit the topic once more. Specifically, we’re here to remind you to renew your CPR certification. It’s that important!
Why Should You Renew Your CPR Certification?
Believe it or not, it expires. This means that, once every two years, you’ll need to renew your CPR certification. There are a host of different reasons for why you should do this. Most importantly, rectifying helps to keep those life-saving skills fresh in your mind. After all, we just wrapped up
National Water Safety Month, so keeping people out of harm’s way should be top of everyone’s mind.
If you went through
CPR training once, you already know that it’s a pretty fast and easy course. During and soon after your initial course, you’ll have a host of lifesaving skills and techniques at your disposal. Unfortunately, while CPR can save lives, it’s (hopefully) not a skill that you’re using all that often. And you know what they say: if you don’t use it, you lose it. Over time, your skills can become rusty. Studies from the American Red Cross have found that less than half of CPR-certified people are able to pass a skills test just one year after their initial training.
Performing CPR is
not like riding a bike. It’s a very precise technique. Without routine practice and recertification, it can become quite easy to make a mistake. That’s especially true during a tense life-or-death situation. Becoming recertified can bring you back up to speed in no time.
Changing Guidelines
You’ll also want to renew your CPR certification because guidelines and techniques change as we discover new methods, and medical technology improves. As time rolls on, it’s important to keep up to date on the safest techniques to use in an emergency. After all, we’re talking about saving lives here. In 2010 for example, the American Heart Association made critical changes to its CPR guidelines. Without being recertified, you’d be working without crucial new information.
Traditional Recertification
Fortunately, it is not very costly or time-consuming to renew your CPR certification. There are multiple ways to get started. If you were certified by either the
American Heart Association or
American Red Cross, it’s easy!
Once you register, visit the correct website. There, you’ll be able to choose one of two paths:
Take a Review Course
If you choose a review course, you’ll review the safety guidelines and techniques with a teacher. Then you’ll take a final exam.
Take a Challenge Course
The other option is a challenge course. This choice forgoes the review and instruction section and skips ahead to the exam.
Depending on your level of skill or confidence, you should choose your recertification method accordingly. Both of these choices will require in-person evaluations before you can be officially recertified. The in-person aspect of traditional classes can be daunting for some of us, but these certification courses are relatively short and can help you save the life of a person you love. A clear understanding of up-to-date guidelines can make all the difference in the world.
