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If one of your relatives were choking, drowning, or having a heart attack, would you know what to do to help them? Would you be able to save their life?

Accidents happen. Kids fall into pools or swallow marbles. A parent may have a heart condition. A family member or friend may accidentally choke on some food at our dinner table.

I remember the first time I took first aid and CPR, I thought that it was about saving strangers, but I think the bottom line is the person we might save is far more likely to be someone we know and love.

Even in a city with good ambulance service, it is realistically going to take a minimum of 10-15 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. Considering the chance of survival for someone without a pulse goes down by about 10% each minute, the importance of early intervention is paramount.

The techniques are simple, may make the difference between life and death for someone we love, and all it takes is a short course, ranging from 3 hours to 6 hours long, depending upon which CPR course taken.

Personally, I think everyone should take at least CPR, if not first aid also, every year starting in about grade 6. I think it would be prudent for every parent of youngsters to take a baby and child CPR/First Aid course and recertify every other year just in case, particularly to be able to handle airway obstructions (choking, severe food allergic reactions).

Heart attacks are now killing more premenopausal women than any other disease, and in this demographic, the symptoms are very obscure, and not what one would typically associate with a heart attack.

For premenopausal women, the predominant symptoms are sudden overwhelming fatigue, anxiety, and stomach upset. Not chest pain or heaviness, not left arm or jaw pain which is more typical of male heart attacks.

Frequently when men have a heart attack, they tend to deny, deny, deny that there is a problem. They will often tell their spouses NOT to call an ambulance.

So women, if you think your spouse, boyfriend, son is having a heart attack, don’t listen to them. Call for that ambulance. Because if his heart should stop, what is most likely to save him will be the shock of a defibrillator, and if those paddles are not on his chest within 5 minutes, his chance of survival is remote. Better safe than sorry.

Although cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a good thing to know how to do, the bottom line is it is a defibrillator used within 5 minutes of cardiac arrest that is more likely to save the life.

And thankfully small, portable Automated External Defibrillators (AED) are available for anyone to purchase, and are becoming more and more affordable with each passing year.

These are extremely easy to use by anyone – no medical training required CPR courses usually now include a section on how to use an AED.

Diagrams show the user where to place the electrodes, and then with a push of the button, the device assesses the heart rhythm of the patient, and applies the type of shock needed to restart the heart, only if that shock is necessary. This device will not shock a heart that does not need one.

Remember – for every minute that someone is without a pulse, the chance of survival goes down by 10%. CPR alone may save 1-2% of cardiac arrests, but with an AED, survival rates jump up to between 40 and 50%.

So, if someone in your family has a heart condition, perhaps it is worth purchasing one for the house or car, as the ambulance defibrillator will likely arrive too late. Sure, they are still expensive – about $1300US, but ask yourself if your loved one is worth it.

On a completely different topic, for you nature lovers out there, check out these eagle cams, looking into the nests of bald eagles in south-western BC. This nesting pair near White Rock on Vancouver Island has 3 eggs, soon to hatch in early to mid April.

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Related tips:
Cardiovascular disease
Drinking and passing out
Lowering blood pressure naturally

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