The monthly gathering of the Be Smart: Control Your Diabetes group was held on Thursday inside of the Barksdale Cotton Gin at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center and this month the attendees received a refresher session on Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation provided by Eva Lee-Rush, LPN II, CPR Instructor
Lee-Rush told the crowd that everyone needs to know how to correctly perform CPR and highlighted that the whole purpose is to restore breathing to someone who has stopped breathing and we never know when that might happen.
After going through the procedural steps to take, if you come across someone who is not breathing, she demonstrated the proper techniques for infants and adults. She also stressed using caution in handling the victims and making sure you administer the process in safe surroundings.
Lee-Rush said whether you come upon the person in a home environment or you encounter them in public, one key thing to remember is, “We do not ever perform CPR on beds or on the couch because it is a soft surface, we need a hard surface,” she said.
She cautioned that the 30 compressions to 2 breaths method can be tiring especially if you have to repeat it multiple times until the paramedics arrive, so don’t get discouraged. “If you can do it, fine, if you give out, you’re only human,” Lee-Rush said. She asserted that it was better to have tried than to have done nothing at all.
Her presentation also included a brief introduction to some of the instruments used to administer CPR in hospitals and business settings such as respirator masks and portable defibrillators.
Certification in the life-saving technique is also available for a small fee.