Red Cross CPR

American Red Cross first aid, CPR and AED programs are designed to give you the confidence to respond in an emergency situation with skills that can save a life.  Additional training in blood-borne pathogens, oxygen administration and injury prevention can be added to CPR and first aid training to prepare you to prevent and respond to life-threatening emergencies.   Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency medical procedure for a victim of cardiac arrest or, in some circumstances, respiratory arrest. CPR is performed in hospitals or in the community by laypersons or by emergency response professionals. CPR involves physical interventions to create artificial circulation through rhythmic pressing on the patient's chest to manually pump blood through the heart, called chest compressions, and usually also involves the rescuer exhaling into the patient (or using a device to simulate this) to inflate the lungs and pass oxygen in to the blood, called artificial respiration. Some protocols now downplay the importance of the artificial respirations, and focus on the chest compressions only. (Source: www.redcross.org)