Perhaps you might be new to CPR, or were certified years ago; currency in saving lives from cardiac arrests is not a status that is merely a certification or knowledge showpiece. Keeping abreast of the latest updates and techniques in this lifesaving technique has never been more important in an era of rapid information dissemination; anyone out there now has a better opportunity to be a literal lifesaver, and it logically follows that timely interventions should have a higher probability of happening.

However, statistics aren’t that optimistic. The 2015 Heart and Stroke statistics by American Heart Association (AHA) revealed that heart disease remains the number one global cause of death with 17.3 million deaths each year, with an expected value of more than 23.6 million by 2030 through health data collected from more than 190 countries. Over 383,000 people in America alone on average suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and they don’t seem to be visibly sick on the outside along with no risk factors being recorded. It has also been reported that victims of cardiac arrest who had CPR administered to them (inclusive of bystander CPR and paramedic defibrillation) within the first 3 to 5 minutes of collapse had drastically increased survival rates by up to 25%.

So, should you learn, or re-learn CPR? Here are some summarized pointers on why you certainly should:

It’s easier now than ever to learn CPR.

Days going through courses in a classroom as the only way to get certified are long gone. Other than instructors with flexible timings, you can also learn through online programs offering high-quality instruction online nowadays based on standardised guidelines, with hands-on components and an in-person assessment of your skills. This definitely gives you more flexibility on how and when you wish to go through CPR courses.

Employees greatly appreciate it.

Other than adding another feather in your cap through this certification, it plays a practical role in boosting your employability in industries that requires this as a core skill, such as lifeguard, firefighters, teachers, personal trainers and so on. Even for industries where this isn’t required as a core, you never know when your skills could save a colleague’s life.

You can teach this skill to another person.

Other than being easy to learn and teach it, one of the best ways CPR saves lives is through increasing the number of people knowing how to use it. The more the individuals that know CPR, the better the chances of anyone out there being able to receive timely death-defying aid. It’s fast and easy to share a video demonstrating CPR to anyone around you, and doing so not only generates interest, but also indirectly saves a possible cardiac arrest case in the future.

Being able to save anyone’s life.

It is known that for every minute that an AED is unavailable, the victim has a 10% less chance of survival. Other than saving a stranger’s life, what other reason can be more compelling than being able to save a loved one? As 70% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen in homes, with only 46% of these victims so far getting immediate help before professional help arriving, you would definitely want to prevent your loved one from becoming part of this statistic.