A Potentially Life Saving Opportunity

A few weeks ago, I was spending my Sunday afternoon like many other parents, standing on the side of a playing field cheering on one of my children's teams.  The venue was a girls' lacrosse jamboree in Suffern, NY.  The fourth of five games was just starting when one of the referees collapsed on the field.  The poor man had apparently had a heart attack.  

While the rest of the parents and I were fumbling to dial 911 on our cell phones, a trainer was called over, started CPR, and eventually used a defibrillator to resuscitate the man. 

Watching this emergency unfold in front of me made me feel helpless that, if the situation were different and if it were up to me to save this man, I would not know how to correctly administer CPR (the last CPR training I had was after college and apparently is not the preferred method anymore).   Like many of the parents on the side of that field in Suffern, I vowed to take a CPR course.  Lucky for us, there are a couple of convenient opportunities for us to do so.

The American Red Cross offers CPR Certification and First Aid courses at its Darien location.  The courses are around 1 hour 45 mins and cost between $70 and $110.

The Darien Community Association is also offering a free CPR training session taught by Post 53 on Wednesday May 15th at 12:00pm.  Registration is required and can be made online at dariendca.org or by contacting the DCA directly.  

Both the Red Cross and the DCA's training are, in my opinion, potentially life saving opportunities we should not pass up.