CPR Training From the Red Cross and the American Heart Association

Answer this question if you can. What is the one type of training that is required for nearly every profession? Teachers have to have it, lifeguards have to have it, most companies provide it for their employees, and these days, even babysitters are trained in it. Did you figure it out yet? Yes, you are right! It's CPR training.

CPR training, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, dates all the way back to 1740, when the Paris Academy of Sciences began recommending mouth to mouth resuscitation for drowning victims. Today, CPR classes are offered by the American Heart Association, the Red Cross, and many other licensed training organizations.

When you take a CPR course, an instructor will cover topics such as how to identify when you should perform CPR, the steps you should take before performing CPR, and how to perform CPR. Depending on the course you take, you will learn different techniques for performing CPR on infants, children, adults, and those who are disabled. Not only will you learn the process for performing CPR, you will also do practice tests on manikins.  

Many courses also involve first aid training, as well as training in the use of AED machines, or automatic external defibrillators. This is a machine that can be used to restart a stopped heart, and when used in combination with CPR, can greatly improve a person's chance of survival. AEDs are beginning to be seen in more and more public places, including in schools, in recreation centers, and in most city buildings.

CPR training instructors most often hold certifications from either the Red Cross or the American Heart Association, and must continually meet guidelines established for instructors. Many are also medical professionals, and continue to receive training and education on the latest CPR research and advancements. Finding a licensed CPR instructor is as easy as going to the Red Cross or American Heart Association websites, and clicking on the links that connect instructors with students.

Immediate use of CPR can double and sometimes triple the survival chances of someone who is in cardiac arrest. Knowing how to perform CPR, and being willing to step in during an emergency situation, can help you save the life of someone who is in cardiac arrest. So be a hero, and sign up for a CPR training.

Are You Interested In EMT Training?

People who want to work as an EMT have to complete EMT training. The emergency medical technician helps people in a medical emergency. The EMT is in most cases the first at the scene of an automobile accident or other instances when a trained medical person is needed.

The EMT also works in a hospital and assists emergency room nurses. The EMT can work anywhere people need emergency medical help. The work is rewarding, but can at times, be demanding. People who become an EMT are those who want to care for people in need, and welcome the challenge the profession brings.

There are different levels of EMT. The level one EMT is trained in basic life saving techniques such as CPR and basic first aid. CPR is used to help people that are not breathing. A person's brain has to have oxygen. If the flow is stopped, the brain can suffer permanent damage and even death can ensue. All emergency medical technicians are certified in methods to help people who have stopped breathing.

The level two EMT has more experience and training in helping those in a medical emergency. The level three EMT is certified to use equipment such as defibrillators. This is a device that is used to help restore the cardio system to a normal rhythm. People who are having a heart attack rely on those who are trained in emergency medical care. The emergency medical technician sometimes has to act quickly in order to help someone live through a heart attack.

A paramedic is a level four EMT. These emergency professionals can administer extensive medical care. They can give pain medication, do tracheotomies, and in essence are trained to do what is necessary to help a person in medical trouble survive the transport to the hospital.

People interested in this line of work can apply at a community college for training. There are also training programs offered by private organizations. When a person finishes training he or she can serve with an ambulance company or in a hospital. When a person has worked as a level one EMT, he or she can advance to the next levels.

This requires additional EMT training. Those who want to want to work as a paramedic should consider an associates or bachelors degree. This is tough job, but a rewarding one. This is a growing field and there are many job openings.

Anyone Can Save a Life with an AED

Automated External Defibrillators (AED) are becoming more and more prevalent in schools, airports, and public buildings all over the country. These fantastic devices have saved many lives that would have otherwise been lost simply because time is such a critical issue when it comes to heart related problems. Even though emergency response teams respond rapidly, having an AED on hand will enable an individual suffering from a heart attack or other heart related problem to survive until the paramedics arrive. Using an AED, anyone has the power to save a life!

According to the informative Web site Start A Heart, automated external defibrillators are lightweight, portable devices that can jumpstart a victim's heart by using an electrical pulse called a biphasic shock. Guiding the rescuer with a combination of simple and clear voice, text and graphical instructions, AEDs do nearly all of the work, enabling practically anyone save a life!

While training seminars will introduce to the correct methods of using an AED, many AED provide voice instructions and are practically fool proof. In fact, growing research suggests that AED are easier to use and often more effective than CPR! However, it is recommended that those likely to use an AED are complete a training course for defibrillators so that they know exactly know the device works.

The popularity of AED has catapulted this piece of life saving equipment from the obscure to the every day. Companies like Zoll, Welch Allyn and Phillips have introduced affordable AED that are now even practical for home use. For instance, Amazon.com carries the Phillips HeartStart for a competitive $1,295, while the advanced Zoll AED Plus is just $1,695. It is amazing that such a small investment can help you save a life; perhaps even your own! A growing number of grant programs have sprung up to fund public access defibrillators for places such as schools and government buildings.

A great many lives have been saved thanks to these fantastic Automated External Defibrillators in a variety of public places. From teenaged athletes with undiagnosed heart problems who suffer heart attacks while participating in their sport of choice to individuals who suffer a heart attack in their local mall or airport, AED are an excellent piece of technology that can literally decide between life and death. If you are in the position to, consider purchasing an AED for your home or place of business. Also, consider learning the correct methods of using an AED in the event of an emergency.

iPods, Pacemakers, and Interference

A recent news report suggested that pacemaker patients who used portable music players sometimes encountered a problem with their pacemakers called interference. The problem wasn't with the music player itself, but rather with the earbuds. Earbuds stored close to the implanted pacemaker can interfere with the pacemaker.

The surprising aspect to this report was that the music player did not have to be playing or even turned on for interference to occur and that the interference did not come from the device but rather from the harmless-looking earbuds. Up till now, it was thought that devices turned off or to some kind of passive setting did not pose an interference risk.

What the study looks like is that if a person has a portable music player, such as an iPod (iPod is just one of the best known types but there are many grands) and if the earbuds used with the device are placed in close proximity to the the upper chest area where the pacemaker is implanted, the earbuds might interfere with the device.

This is not a far-fetched scenario. When a person with this kind of portable music player is not listening to it, it's not unusual to drape the earbuds over the neck (sort of like the way doctors "wear" a stethoscope). That can put the earbuds right over the implant site.

Apparently, interference does not occur when the earbuds are in the ears or when the earbuds are kept away from the implant site--such as in a purse or backpack or even hip pocket.

Interference occurs when signals in the air get picked up by the pacemaker. Pacemakers have very "big ears." They listen for electrical signals. In fact, that is how pacemakers monitor the heart--they track its electrical activity and respond to it. While this normally works pretty well, an occasional stray electrical signal can cause the pacemaker to "think" it is hearing something the heart is doing when, in reality, it is sensing electrical interference, something doctors have nicknamed "noise."

Most pacemaker patients are told to avoid the most common sources of interference--things like arc welding equipment, bumper cars, industrial magnets, and being very close to high-tension lines. However, stray signals can sometimes interfere with pacemaker performance. Stray signals can come from small electronic devices (like earbuds), metal detectors, dentists' drills and so on. While such interference is not common, it can occur.

In most situations, the interference does not last very long. The pacemaker may start pacing or acting inappropriately because it doesn't interpret the stray signals correctly, but if the source of interference is removed, the pacemaker typically resumes normal operation. If a pacemaker person starts to feel lightheaded, woozy, or just peculiar in situations where they may be potential interference (around heavy machinery, certain power tools, security checkpoints), just stepping out of range can stop the interference.

Pacemakers are sensitive, but not all that sensitive. A source of interference far from a pacemaker patient does not pose a risk. For instance, most pacemaker manufacturers advise pacemaker people not to "linger" under a metal detector, but pacemaker patients do not have to avoid going near them.

If interference persists over a long time, the pacemaker may do something called "reset" or "backup" or "safety pacing." (This function is more or less the same in all brands of pacemakers except that different manufacturers call it by different names.) When the pacemaker thinks that there is interference is going on and it lasts for a certain amount of time, the pacemaker will automatically revert to a special type of pacemaker behavior that doctors call "asynchronous pacing." Asynchronous pacing is not the most sophisticated pacing prescription, but it gets the job done--it assures regular consistent pacing support.

If a pacemaker patient is exposed to interference long enough to "reset" the pacemaker, he or she will need to go to the pacemaker doctor to get the pacemaker reprogrammed. This is a very short and painless step that involves the doctor turning off the reset function and pushing a button on a remote device called a programmer to resume the old settings.

Pacemaker patients who love their portable music players need to take a few simple precautions. Now if having and using a portable music player is part of your lifestyle that you really cannot live without, you should make an appointment to discuss with your pacemaker doctor how to do this as safely as possible. On the other hand, just keeping the earbuds from your music player away from the pacemaker ... even if the device is not playing or turned off ... you should not experience any "noise" or interference.

Heart Ailments Treatment Made Easier

Heart ailments have been on the rise in the recent years. Most of the hospital admissions are due to heart diseases. Most common among the heart ailments is blockage in coronary arteries, which supply blood to heart, commonly called as Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).

Heart may also be affected by congenital heart defects that are present from birth in approximately 1% of new born babies; rheumatic heart disease, which affects the heart valves as they start leaking or become narrow, is on the decline as compared to past years.0.7 / 1000 children are affected by RHD. At present there are 1.4 million persons suffering from RHD in India.

Lot of advances is taking place in the management of heart ailments. A few years ago only treatment available for most of the heart ailments was either with medicines or surgery. Thanks to the newer development in the field of interventional cardiology, where most of the curative treatment is done through a very small cut (1mm) in groin or the wrist artery.

All these measures are being adopted to give maximum comfort to the patient with minimum risk. 26 years ago only treatment available for the blocked arteries was to surgically bypass the blockage.

But now many cases can be managed by a very simple procedure called Angioplasty. During Angioplasty a balloon is inflated in the blocked artery at the site of blockage and then a metal stent is fixed in the region to prevent vessel collapse.

Though this treatment is very simple and patient walks about after 12 hours & back to work after 48 hours, it carries risk of re-blockage in 15-20% of the cases, particularly in those suffering from Diabetes mellitus (Sugar problem).

However, with the availability of various medicated stents this problem has been overcome to a great extent though not totally abolished; re-blockage takes place in 4-7% of the cases, which is at par with the surgical results.

Furthermore due to availability of newer drugs to prevent the clotting of the blood there is further improvement in the long term results.

Besides coronary artery disease, interventional cardiological procedures now also find application in greater number of heart diseases like Rheumatic Valvular Heart Disease, Septal Defects and AMI.

These were earlier being treated with medication and surgery but can now days also be treated with Interventions.

This perfect harmony between technology skill and desire to serve humanity has created wonders and brought a revolution in the field of medicines.

Statins - Yes Or No?

Statins are the most effect cholesterol lowering drugs available on the market. They are able to effectively lower and reduce the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood as well as dramatically reduce the number of cardiovascular related diseases and deaths.

How do they work?

Statins work by reducing the level of LDL cholesterol in the blood by stimulating the LDL receptors in the liver. While these drugs are generally safe with few side-effects, side-effects that can occur are skeletal muscle damage and increased liver enzymes. Also, once one begins taking statins to lower cholesterol, chances are they will be on the medication the rest of their life. For this reason, statins are often prescribed as a last resort.

Other cholesterol lowering techniques that have proven successful are diet and exercise. Studies show that maintaining a healthy weight helps regulate cholesterol levels. If you are currently overweight some weight loss tips are as follows: Cut out trans fats. Trans fats also are a contributing factor to high cholesterol. By simply cutting back on the foods with trans fats, the need for cholesterol lowering drugs is reduced.

Also people are able to lose weight with hoodia gordonii. This is a naturally growing plant in the African desert and has been used for thousands of years with no known side effects.

Quitting bad habits such as smoking and drinking can help quickly reduce the need for statins. By kicking these habits, less stress is put on the arteries and the liver is also better able to perform its function, and reduce the need for cholesterol lowering drugs.