CPR Certified

BE PROACTIVE

Introduction:

I got CPR certified for the first time about 23 years ago. I heard that the elementary school was offering a free class, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity. I had several small children at home. As a mother, it made sense to me to be CPR certified so that I would know how to react in case of an emergency. The class lasted 2 ½ hours, but I walked out with my certification. I remember feeling very proud of this accomplishment.

A New Opportunity:

Many years later, I was presented with a different opportunity. The principal at my school was looking for someone willing to take the classes to become a CPR instructor. Our state had a new mandate that anyone working with children needed to be CPR certified. My boss figured it would be easier and more cost-effective to have someone on staff who could provide the training. I jumped at the opportunity. I am always eager to learn more. I have been a CPR instructor for almost ten years, and I love it. It’s rewarding to teach people these valuable life-saving techniques.

Recently, I certified a group of teachers at a neighboring school. They were a conscientious bunch, paying close attention to all the information I was throwing at them. As part of my class, I cover what to do in the case of a stroke and how to do the Heimlich if someone is choking. I have stories that I have found in magazines of people who have survived heart attacks and strokes because someone nearby knew what to do. I always tell my students that personally, I’ve never had to do CPR. However, if the occasion should arise, I know what to do, and I’m grateful for that knowledge.

Saving Lives:

The Heimlich Maneuver is a different story though. Since being trained in the Heimlich 23 years ago, I’ve had to use it 4 times. The first time was with my teenage stepdaughter. She choked on a piece of turkey. The other three times were with toddlers. One was my son; the other two were my grandchildren. How grateful I am that I decided all those year ago to get this training!

It makes sense to be CPR certified. You never know when you will need the training in order to save somebody’s life. When our state mandated that everyone who works with children has to know CPR, I mentally congratulated those lawmakers. It was a logical thing to do. While it’s unusual for a child to have a heart attack, it does happen occasionally, and choking is a common occurrence. Who knows how many people’s lives have been saved since this law was put into place?

The Takeaway:

It’s called being proactive. It means that lawmakers recognized a potential threat and immediately did what they could to minimize that risk. It was the same thing I did 23 years ago as a young mother. I realized that getting CPR certified could potentially save the life of one of my children. (And if you count my times using the Heimlich, it has.) It makes sense to do everything we can to protect our loved ones.

However, this begs the question: Are we doing enough? I have to wonder if it is enough to be CPR certified. Everywhere I go, my eyes are drawn to what I consider a huge risk factor: windows. What if an active shooter decides to enter your child’s locked school by shooting the window in the door? What if a bird flies into your sliding glass door and shatters it? What if a kid hits a baseball through your place of business?

If the windows in a building break, the consequences can range from a minor annoyance to disastrous. Best case scenario, you have to clean up broken glass and board up the window until you can get it fixed. However, if someone gets hit with flying glass when a window breaks, they can suffer serious injuries. Thieves can use broken windows to gain access to your home or business. Shooters can break windows to enter facilities. Vandals can break glass to send a message or just to make our lives miserable.

It's Logical:

Getting CPR certified makes sense. Doesn’t it make equal sense to secure the windows in your buildings? Window Security Film does just that. The appearance of the windows will remain unchanged, but with our Security Film, your windows will become impact-resistant, able to withstand earthquakes, extreme temperature changes, high winds, flying birds, rocks, and even explosives.

Getting CPR certified only takes a couple of hours. I think we owe it to our loved ones to have that knowledge. Getting a quote for our Window Security Film is equally easy. Like I said earlier, who knows how many lives have been saved since our state mandated that anyone working with children be CPR certified. By that same token, who knows how much money will be saved and how many lives will be preserved by installing Window Security Film? Can you really put a price on safety and peace of mind? Actually, we can. Call us today for a quote.