How to Celebrate National CPR/AED Week

As we welcome summer back for another year we must remember to be proactive in summer safety. Here at the Red Cross we take safety very seriously. Whether you choose to celebrate summer by a pool, or on a running trail, we hope that you take advantage of our educational course.

The Red Cross offers an online CPR/AED (Automated External Defibrillation) class. This online version offers the convenience of learning in your own home and setting your own pace .

In lieu of National CPR/AED week the Red Cross of Chicago is offering a discount on their popular CPR class. Just visit our website at www.chicagoredcross.org/takeaclass and enter the code: CPRAEDWEEK to receive 15% off the cost.

Heart Related Emergencies at Home

Do you have heart problems in your family? I do. It's scary. Especially with my parents getting older and my brother and I being away from home. Five of my family members have suffered or died from heart attacks or sudden cardiac arrest in my lifetime (and I'm not that old!).

Sorry for the doom and gloom on a Wednesday morning, but it's reality. The great news is that there's an extra precaution you can take against heart related emergencies when your mom and dad (or brother, cousin, grandpa, uncle and creepy step-aunt) refuse to eat better or get out and exercise.

I bet you think I'm going to say, "learn CPR," right? Close! But no. CPR requires your presence. If a family member you're concerned about has a significant other, caretaker or someone else with them on a regular basis, there's a better solution.

It's personal automatic external defibrillators, more popularly know as AEDs, I'm talking about. You know - those things you see on hospital shows where they yell "clear!" then shock the patient's heart? Those, but smaller (and less dramatic).

With a few hours of training and the purchase of an personal AED, one can have quick access to a tool that greatly increases the survivability of a heart related emergency. According to the Red Cross, 50,000 of the 250,000 sudden cardiac arrest related deaths occurring yearly in the US could be prevented if an AED were present.

Now, when we see AEDs used on those hospital shows I mentioned, the patient's heart has usually stopped - a depiction that's not completely accurate. AEDs are appropriate for irregular, sporadic or absent heart rhythms. That means heart attack, angina, AMI and sudden cardiac arrest are all candidates for AED use.

Sound complicated? The biggest worry is probably, "how will I know when to use it?". You'll learn more in class, but let me just put this one fear to rest: Modern AEDs measure heart rhythms and advise the user whether or not to administer a shock automatically. All you have to do is listen to instructions and push a button. Easy!

Having a personal AED in the home or office accompanied by someone with proper training is a great precaution to take against heart related emergencies.

For more information about AEDs, how you or a loved one can take an AED class, or to learn more about the Red Cross, visit these links:

AED Frequently Asked Questions

Red Cross AED Classes

Would You Know How To Save A Life?

My last semester at college I enrolled in a CPR course, not because I thought I could save a life, or because I thought that I it would be a useful tool. I needed two credit hours to fulfill my undergraduate degree and thought of no better way to fulfill them then by taking a “blow-off” course. What is easier than a two-hour CPR/ AED class, to finish up college? It wasn’t until half-way through the course when I realized the use that would come from this class, besides simply fulfilling class credit.

I remember distinctly the moment I realized this class should not only be mandatory for students, but a class that everyone should take at some point in their life. It was a Tuesday in class when we were told we were going to learn about Infant and Child CPR. I quickly remembered a day when my 18-month old nephew was eating a piece of candy and began to choke. His face looked panicked and he could not whisper even a sound. I had no idea what to do. I had never taken a CPR, First Aid, AED or similar course. My only nephew was choking and I could not help. This is a fear I hope no one has to ever feel. Luckily, he began coughing on his own and was able to cough up this candy. While my nephew was perfectly fine, walking away as nothing had ever happened, I felt a sense of terror. I was left wondering, if something had happened, would I have been able to help?

Thankfully, American Red Cross of Greater Chicago offers CPR, AED and First Aid classes that can help prepare you for these situations.

CPR is not a class that should be taken lightly. It is a class that may help you save a life. If I had taken a class sooner I may have been able to help my nephew, and I wouldn’t have been left wondering ‘what if something happened?’ Taking a CPR or AED class could help you save your father, sister, daughter, friend, neighbor, stranger or even your own life.


Irving Ibarez, a local Chicago hero, utilized the skills and knowledge he learned at an American Red Cross CPR class, and saved his co-worker, Chuck Wendt’s, life. Without Irving, the doctors said Chuck would not have survived. Read more about Irving’s story here.

This week (June 1 – 7) is second annual National CPR/AED Awareness Week, and the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago wants to provide the community with the knowledge and skills to respond to a life-threatening situation. Red Cross is offering the community FREE AED training with the purchase of any CPR class for the entire month of June. Read more about our CPR and AED classes to discover how you can learn the necessary skills to save someone’s life.

To learn more or sign up for a CPR course, contact the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago at (800) 33-SAFETY or visit http://www.chicagoredcross.org/.

~Megan Wallace~