Save a Life Saturday

Saving a Life: Today, my wife and I sat in on the American Red Cross' "Save a Life Saturday" training. The Red Cross held the free training across the country in light of what happened with Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in January. Bystanders helped provide aid after police say Jared Loughner started gunning people down.

We took part in the training at the Clive YMCA this morning. I must say I was surprised with how little I knew.

Learning lesson #1: When you are giving compressions on a victim's chest to get his heart re-started, you may break the person's ribs. I had no idea. But it may actually make doing it easier. Gruesome, a little, I admit. But it sounds like it's a necessary evil for the chance to save a person's life.

Lesson #2: You try to give 100 compressions per minute to keep the blood moving. Try it. It's tougher than it may sound. It can get pretty physical. Hopefully, the adrenaline keeps you going.

Lesson #3: I didn't know this either. You can either sing out loud or just in your head. The beat of the Bee Gees' song, "Stayin' Alive", hits the speed of your goal for your compression rhythm. Pretty fitting song, I'd say.

Sing along with me...