When I was about eight months pregnant, my step-mother and I took an infant CPR course. I was exhausted and emotional but followed along. A couple weeks later, down the hall, Will arrived. It felt so weird to walk past that classroom with him in my arms. I wished I had paid far closer attention.
Cue a couple of years later and we were all up at a friends cottage. The moms were drinking and the kids were eating chips. Will inhaled one the wrong way and starting choking. I was yelling at my friends to help me, all the while turning him into the football hold and ramming that chip out. Once order was restored, my friends were laughing at me. I was so panicked but the instinct of what I had learned had immediately kicked in. So while I was yelling for help, I actually knew exactly what I was doing.
The MASSIVE importance of knowing CPR was reinforced a 1000 fold over the past couple of weeks. Take a look at this. 
You may have seen this story on the news. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I wrote about my friend’s sister and her new baby Oliver? Well. These are Oliver’s parents.
Two weeks after giving birth to Oliver, Chantelle’s heart stopped. Three months after taking a CPR course, Brian saved her life. This scary, awful story could have had a FAR different outcome had they chosen not to take that course. Instead, Chantelle will be home for Christmas with Brian and Baby Oliver. Ollie will have a mommy. Susannah will have her sister (and sanity).
It’s such a simple lesson. We all need to have CPR training. I firmly believe it kicks in for you when you need it. The other thing that Telly and Brian’s story made me think of is other safety measures. It’s time for Will to learn how to dial 911. I need to take the passcode off of our only phone and show him how to use it. I need to explain to him what to do at our house in case of fire. I’m not talking about making him paranoid…I’m talking about making him prepared.
So. If you’re looking for Christmas gift ideas, how about the gift of life? Sign up for a CPR course today – click here in Toronto!
And how about a Christmas wish for peace and health for Telly, Brian and Ollie. That’s mine.
You definitely need to teach Will what to do in case of an emergency. Just yesterday the school buses in Calgary were canceled, but all the teachers were still expected to be at school so I had to go to work and leave my kids at home. Well, my daughter tried to warm up some rice in the microwave and it caught on fire. She didn’t hesitate – she just called 911. The firemen were awesome and luckily nothing but our microwave was damaged. Kids need to know what to do!
I should point out that my kids are 13 and 10 so it’s not like I was leaving little kids alone!
Whoa. I need to go back and get re-certified.
that should be the pre-natal course, imo. it’s amazing what that training can do. i took all of my swimming and 1st aid levels by the time i was 18 (and I’m OLD now!) and it all came back to me in a flash a couple of months ago when my daughter’s friend got a blackberry stuck. i freaked out after but was shocked at how quickly i did it without even thinking. heimlich ninja-style!
Wow, that’s scary… great reminder, Sara!