When it comes to the seriousness and number of people affected by cardiac arrest, the numbers are staggering.
- Approximately 475,000 Americans die as a result of cardiac arrest each year.
- More than 350,000 instances of cardiac arrest occur outside of the hospital annually.
- Of those 350,000 instances of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs), less than 50% of those affected are able to get immediate help before professionals arrive.
- During instances of OHCA, nearly 50% of people survived when Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was administered by a bystander before help arrived.
The last point illustrates the importance of CPR training. With proper CPR trainer, anyone can help save a life. With a bystander performing CPR, the chances of a cardiac arrest victim surviving decrease by 7% for every minute that passes.
While there are many reasons to receive CPR training and many ways to take a CPR training course, perhaps no place is better than the workplace. After all, it’s often said that people who work in certain industries see more of their co-workers at times than they do their own families.
Many places of business offer health and safety training, but that doesn’t always include CPR training. With that in mind, here are four benefits of workplace CPR training:
- It can be specialized: Depending on what industry you work in, first aid and CPR training can be tailored to fit your needs. For example, a CPR training course in an office building is going to be different than CPR training on a construction site because there are different variables involved.
By tailoring any sort of health and safety training to a particular type of job or industry, employees in that industry will get current, real world knowledge that they can use and the training will be more effective as a result. - It can boost morale: Keeping up employee morale is important, no matter what industry you work in. To that end, CPR training can help boost morale by promoting employee health and safety. This shows employees that companies care about their wellbeing and it can help foster a strong atmosphere of trust in the workplace when employees know everyone is watching out for each other.
- Cost: When it comes to health and safety training in the workplace, there’s no getting around it: it costs money. For that reason, many companies will designate an employee or two to attend a training and then report back to the rest of the group.
This can save companies some money, but it can also leave them at a disadvantage because there’s a chance the information won’t be passed on in a way that makes it easy for everyone to understand. By spending the time and the money so that everyone can have proper CPR training, workplace accidents will be reduced and the impact will be felt in the long run. - Practical knowledge: When it comes to workplace CPR training, it’s beneficial because it makes all employees aware of workplace safety and what they can do to keep themselves and their co-workers safe.
As previously mentioned, everyday Americans knowing how to perform CPR saves lives. You never know where and when a cardiac arrest episode may occur and with proper training and knowledge, everyday Americans can feel confident and remain calm when and if they should be called into action.
CPR and first aid training also gives employees a chance to learn everything that’s in the office first aid kit and what it’s used for. Again, you never know when and where something might happen and having knowledge of basic first aid techniques can be of great benefit.
Having first aid training, basic life support classes and CPR training can be invaluable for anyone in any kind of profession. Companies who take the time and spend the money to put employees through specialized, proper health and safety and CPR training are boosting morale, protecting the wellbeing of their employees and making a good investment that supplies employees with lots of practical knowledge.