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-Notes courtesy Claire Catherwood, West End Community Watch

Jim Gunderson was the speaker for the West End Community Watch meeting held on January 21. Gunderson is employed by DAN (Divers Alert Network), located in Durham, where he is a First Aid and CPR trainer. Jim spoke about “The Necessity of First Aid and CPR Training.”

Gunderson presented a scenario to consider… you go out of your house briefly and return to find your spouse unconscious on the floor. What should you do?  First, you should call 911, of course, but you need to do more than that if the person is to survive. The question was, “Do you know what to do?”

Some sobering statistics were reported. Seventy percent of cardiac arrests occur in the home. Once the heart stops, the human brain will be dead within 3 to 4 minutes. EMS usually takes 15 minutes or more to arrive.  Stroke victims must be treated within one hour. A person bleeding from the carotid artery (in the neck) will survive only 1 or 2 minutes without treatment.

Few people are adequately trained for an emergency event. CPR training creates the confidence needed to be willing to help and increases the odds of survival.

First Aid and CPR training are available through the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, and some health departments. Gunderson offers courses to the public through DAN. Online courses are not recommended because hands-on training is necessary.

The usual fee for training is $30 to $40. Training needs to be renewed every 2 years. The bottom line is that everyone should receive training!