It is hard to believe that yet another year has passed and we are now in 2012. As time goes on and technology continues to advance, CPR and First Aid training are advancing as well.

The first city to teach and promote resuscitation was Amsterdam, located in the heart of the European Enlightenment and also a city of canals—therefore a city with many drownings – as many as 400 per year. Death from cardiac disease was still not prevalent and sudden deaths were mostly from accidents. In August 1767 a few wealthy and civic-minded citizens gathered to form the Society for Recovery of Drowned Persons. This society was the first organised effort to respond to sudden death. Within 4 years of its founding, the society in Amsterdam claimed that 150 persons were saved by their recommendations. Their techniques involved a range of methods to stimulate the body. As time went on and science progressed, techniques were improved and added greatly increasing the number of lives saved. Today millions of lives have been saved in part to CPR and/or First Aid training. The curriculum continues to be updated every 5 years allowing for the newest in science to be incorporated in training sessions. Options for taking a classroom based course of only a few hours as well as online instruction are now available. Something as simple as pushing in the center of the chest until 911 rescuers arrive really can save a life. Best of wishes to everyone in this new year. It is a great time to be alive.

American Heart Month

February is American Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. The month of February is dedicated to increasing awareness of heart disease and increasing knowledge about prevention. As an approved American Heart Association training center, Life First TC is passionate about educating our community on this topic. Here are a few tips to put you on the right path to a healthy heart:

1. Know the risk factors of heart disease. Identify ways that you can improve your own chances for living a healthy life-free of cardiovascular disease.

2. Know the warning signs of a heart attack so that you can recognize them quickly and get immediate medical attention.

3. See your physician for regular check-ups even when you are feeling well. If you have any history of heart disease or risk factors of heart disease, talk with your doctor about what tests you may want to do to keep an eye on your heart.

4. Learn CPR and how to use an AED and encourage everyone you know to do the same.

Life First TC will be offering a FREE CPR certification course in honor of American Heart Month. The course will be at our Stockton training center on Feb. 19th. Space is limited and pre-registration is required.

New CPR Guidelines Announced

Life First Training Center is proud to be an official American Heart Association approved Training Center. The American Heart Association is the gold standard for CPR training. One reason for this is because of their process for creating the CPR guidelines which are updated every 5 years. More than over 250 CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care scientific topics undergo evidence-based review by leading experts in the field of medicine. Curriculum and instructors are updated to the newest recommended findings and students are taught the most current and effective ways possible to assist in saving the lives of others. The new CPR guidelines of 2010 will among other changes, teach a revised order of initial CPR steps. The new order is C-A-B (compressions-airway and breathing) which supports the latest evidence that compressions are the most important part of CPR. For more information on these guideline changes, please visit the AHA web site at: http://www.americanheart.org/ For information on courses in the Stockton-Modesto and Tracy area, please visit our website at: http://www.lifefirsttrainingcenter.org/