i took some courses on cpr with aed (the defribulator) and first aid the other day at work. i am again officially “certified” for such things, although the first aid stuff was a bit basic. however, perhaps given that my mother is a nurse and my spouse is practically a doctor, i may have more background in such things than a normal person.
the cpr stuff was interesting as the procedures were very different than when i took a training couse in it in high school. the target rate for chest compressions is very fast… 100 per minute…. i do not think it was that fast before. they also do not have one check the pulse, which is weird. instead, you check for signs of “breathing and circulation”. apparently people wasted too much time checking for a pulse, and the powers that be just took that out of the procedure. one also does not try to clear the airway using you fingers anymore; i guess the risk of pushing stuff back down the throat turned out to be too great.
the automatic defribulators were funny. i had not realize that they talked and gave instructions. they are definitely pretty idiot proof. “shock advised… please clear the area.” “start cpr” “attach electrodes”
as an added bonus, i got a free lunch at work. that certainly hasn’t happened in years.