Several weeks ago when IBDI Prez Chris Jay asked Lani and me if we wanted to participate in the CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) Workshop, I told him that we would like to attend as spectators instead of participating. Some years ago, I had participated in the CPR course as a required course for all Air Traffic Control Specialist in the FAA. It was a full day course during those days with mouth to mouth and hands-on chest compression. So I thought the CPR Workshop would be just a refresher for me and Lani since she went through the course while working as a volunteer at the Kapiolani Women & Children Medical Center.
Well the evening of the CPR Workshop finally came this past Monday at the Palladium. The workshop was held in the Diamond Head side while the Ewa ballroom was opened to IBDI members who didn't sign up for the workshop.
There were at least 30 guys and gals in the workshop...all participants and not as spectators.
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| Dummy model with AED attached. |
Everyone sat on the floor next to a dummy model of a human. Fireman K. Ching was at the mike giving a short but educational explaination of the course while Fireman M. Jones worked the Audio Visuals. The video clips of what to do incase someone collapsed because of a cardio attack surely embedded in our minds. Two versions of CPR was shown on the screen....the European version and the American version to the tune of "Staying Alive". Both were nearly the same but I found that the European version was more entertaining and easier to relate to. After the video clips, Fireman Ching posed some questions about what we had seen. "What is the first thing to do when someone falls and is unconscious? What's the next thing and so on. There were three things to do and later as we went deep into the course there were four. There were questions abound coming from the participants as well as from Fireman Ching....all with satifactory answers about the course.
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| Applying Chest Compression. |
This was a hands-on CPR course as Fireman Ching iterated..no mouth to mouth. So now Lani and I are no long spectators but participants. We all worked on the dummy model to 100 beats to a minute in time with "Staying Alive".
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Chest compression using upper
body weight and straight arm. |
Fireman Ching tested our endurance by asking us to perform the hands on chest compression on the dummy model for two minutes. It was tiresome for some of the participants but in an actual situation, it might take as long as 6 to 8 minutes (the estimated time for EMT or Fire Department to get to the scene).
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Applying Chest Compression
with fingers interwined. |
As we went deeper into the course, Fireman Ching and Fireman Jones explained the use of the AED (Automatic External Defibrillator). There was a Q & A session. Then it was time to apply hands-on from what we had learned.
There were about 30 participants; so we were broken up into 8 teams of 4 each and some with three. Our team consisted of Charlene, Marsha, Lani, and myself. There were about six Firemen in the workshop who actively supervised the teams. Our supervisor was Fireman Jones who made sure that we followed the steps exactly as we were instructed, especially when using the AED.
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Applying Chest Compression
with AED attached but turned off. |
The CPR Workshop concluded with a Disco line dance to the tune of "Staying Alive". It was a lively workshop, and very educational....one that can save a person's life if the occasion comes your way.
Many thanks to Prez Chris Jay who arranged this CPR Workshop for IBDI members, and to the Honolulu Fire Department for providing the vital information and application of CPR.
Here's a short summary of CPR.
Chest Compressions:
Someone giving CPR (the rescuer) will probably use both hands, one placed
over the other, to press on the person's chest many times in a row to move blood
out of the heart that has stopped beating.
These are called chest compressions and they help move oxygen-carrying blood
to the body's vital organs — especially the all-important brain. A person who
goes too long without oxygen reaching the brain will die.
In between each compression the hands are lifted off the chest to let the
chest go back to where it was. This allows blood to flow back toward the heart.
In this way, the rescuer can keep the person alive by continuing to supply blood
and oxygen to the brain and the rest of the body, until emergency help — like
the paramedics or firemen — arrives to take the person to a hospital.
