On CPR

This post probably should have happened two years ago, but last night I (finally) completed the Red Cross course on infant and child CPR. Two nights of 2 1/2 hours spent learning how to act if 1) a child is choking, 2) a child is not breathing, or 3) they have no pulse.

I am SO glad I did it. I should have done it ages ago. I tried to look up some of this stuff in a book some time ago and the only thing I remembered (and could decipher from the 2-D diagrams) was what to do when an infant was choking... and that skill I actually HAVE used on Tegwyn. So I thought that I should probably brush up on my "slightly beyond First Aid" skills and take the class.

As it turns out, CPR is not in the category of "advanced First Aid". It falls into the category of "what to do if your child's heart has stopped and they will die within the next 5 minutes." It is WAY beyond first aid. I don't think I fully realized the gravity of the situations that would call for rescue breathing and CPR until I was sitting on the floor with a mannequin EXACTLY the size of my daughter, trying to get its lungs to inflate.

I am generally not a "it won't happen to me" kind of person; but I honestly hadn't fully realized just how quickly terrible things could happen to my kid. Handling infant- and toddler-sized dolls gave me a reality check I wasn't expecting. My heart was racing. My breath was short. My adrenaline was pacing. But then again: better in a class than having to learn step by step from a 9-1-1 operator...

I had thought that I would finish this course saying "I'm glad I have this skill." And I did. I really am glad I now have this skill. What I didn't expect was the wholehearted prayer which I would add next: "Please God don't let me ever have to use this."