Why Every Parent Should Learn CPR

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After surviving sudden cardiac arrest, Miles DiBona and his mom, Jenn, are sharing their story to encourage more families to learn CPR. Photo: courtesy Jenn DiBona

Editor’s note: This article was sponsored by the American Heart Association.

“The 911 dispatch officer said we need to start CPR and both my husband and I just looked at each other. I don’t know CPR. Do you know it? Who’s going to do this?” recalls Jenn DiBona of the night her son Miles’ heart stopped working. That night, DiBona had fallen asleep in her son’s room, and her husband did not wake her when he went to bed. Thanks to those coincidences, DiBona was able to call 911 right away when her 13-year-old shot straight up in bed, took a big gasp of air and collapsed unconscious.

“The responder was very calm and said, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do and walked my husband through CPR,” says DiBona. Her husband continued CPR for 10 minutes until first responders arrived and took over. It saved Miles’ life.

“You do not think about cardiac arrest with children. You think about choking, that’s common, and you think about drowning, that’s common, but this was just not on anyone’s radar,” says DiBona.

Parents worry about a lot of things, but few parents think about CPR for kids. Yet, more than 23,000 children and adolescents experience sudden cardiac arrest each year in the U.S. It can stem from undiagnosed structural heart issues or arrhythmias, but most often arises from noncardiac causes, particularly progressive respiratory failure or shock. In some cases, like Miles,’ there is no obvious cause. When performed immediately, CPR can double — or even triple — a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.

First aid fears

Although CPR is simple, bystanders only attempt CPR 46 percent of the time, and the reasons people give for holding back are rooted in fear. Mostly, people are afraid of doing it wrong or performing CPR when it’s not the right response. The American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers initiative, locally sponsored by Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, is designed to turn bystanders into lifesavers, so that anyone, anywhere is prepared to provide CPR in the face of a cardiac emergency.

“If one parent is going to learn it, both parents should learn it. If you have older children, have everybody learn it. Because if you need it, you might have to say, ‘Now I’m exhausted, you go next.’ You might have to take turns performing CPR until the first responders get there. Take a Saturday and go learn this together,” says DiBona.

While problems like choking or anaphylactic shock are more common than cardiac arrest, a child will usually be conscious as symptoms worsen. Similarly, heart attack victims will usually remain conscious, at least for a while, and experience severe chest pain and discomfort.

“With cardiac arrest it is man down. There’s no breath, there’s no heartbeat. It is like the person is gone,” says DiBona.

Especially with children, people also fear that they will cause harm, like breaking a rib. But DiBona says that’s the wrong way to look at it.

“The other side of that coin is instant death. So, it can’t hurt to try, even if you aren’t certified. My husband did it. He wasn’t certified. He saved a life.”

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation methods

There are three main types of CPR:

Traditional CPR combines chest compressions two inches in depth at the rate of 100–120 beats per minute with two breaths. This is no longer the recommended approach for nonprofessionals attempting CPR.
Hands-only CPR is chest compression-only CPR for adults and teens, and is now the recommended approach. It has been shown to be equally effective as traditional CPR in the first few minutes of emergency response, without the discomfort that comes from sharing breath. The two steps to save a life with Hands-Only CPR are to call 911, then push hard and fast in the center of the chest until help arrives.
Infant and child CPR is similar to traditional CPR but has some key differences that allow for smaller body size and softer, growing bones. Child CPR is performed with 30 chest compressions at the depth of two inches with one or two hands, followed by two breaths. Infant CPR is performed with 30 chest compressions at the depth of 1 1/2 inches with two fingers, followed by two breaths.

Partner with 911 and first responders

In any emergency, the first step should always be to call 911 to dispatch first responders.

“That night, I didn’t want to overreact. I thought, ‘Oh, maybe he’s just having a nightmare. I don’t want to call 911 and then be like, ‘Oh, sorry.’ But if you think that someone needs medical intervention, always call 911. That time is valuable. Every second matters,” says DiBona.

If there’s no breath, the 911 dispatcher will recommend CPR, and if you are in a place where an Automated External Defibrillator is available, you may be told to use it in addition to CPR.

Although AEDs come with clear instructions and 911 can guide you through CPR, it is still much better to have some knowledge of CPR in advance. There are several options for learning CPR, including online CPR courses and instructional videos. You can even buy hands-only CPR training kits to practice at home. But the best option is to take a Heartsaver certification course.

Save a life

Research shows that high-quality CPR improves survival. King County has the highest survival rate in the country for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest — 62 percent compared to a 9 percent national average. Our impressive survival rate is attributed to high public AED access, quality early emergency response systems, and a robust community CPR education program. If more people learned CPR, the survival rate in King County could be even higher.

Certification classes will teach you how to do traditional and infant CPR, and how to use an AED. Practicing on a mannikin will teach you exactly how hard to push to be effective — something that’s easier to experience than communicate. You are also less likely to panic in a real emergency when you’ve practiced in a low-risk environment. And if you do experience a real emergency, whatever the outcome, you won’t have to wonder what would have happened if you had known what to do.

“Really it’s two hours out of your day, and once you’ve learned it, it’s such a basic skill,” says DiBona.