Be prepared for summer safety — learn CPR

If a family member, friend or infant in your care had a cardiac event or required first aid, could you recognize the signs of a medical emergency and respond quickly and appropriately? This summer season, everyone should be prepared for summer safety by learning CPR. With the swimming season and hot weather upon us, people should be prepared to act in case of a medical emergency. Accidents, choking and drowning are leading causes of death in children. Every day, about ten people die from unintentional drowning, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Of these, two out of the ten are children aged 14 or younger. Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates. The fatal drowning rate of African American children ages 5 to 14 is almost three times that of white children in the same age range. Learning CPR can help save lives in cases of drowning. Pool safety like locking gates and monitoring children near pools and bodies of water are key to preventing drowning. Children and beginner swimmers should take swimming lessons and never swim alone. CPR is also vital when sudden cardiac arrest — a leading cause of death in America — strikes without warning. Nearly 360,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests (SCA) occur annually in the United States. It is rare for victims of SCA to survive unless a bystander starts CPR before emergency rescuers arrive. Unfortunately, less than one-third of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims receive bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and less than 5 percent survive.