Should You Get Certified in Life Support?

Life support certifications are primarily geared toward healthcare providers. However, this shouldn’t stop you from getting this lifesaving training.

Whether you’re a gym trainer or a firefighter, life support certifications will prove extremely beneficial when someone in your immediate surroundings needs critical medical care. In fact, many people, including non-working laypeople, are taking the time to take quick rescue care classes to prepare for emergencies. You never know when a slight mishap in the gym or during a Pilates session turns into a life-threatening event that requires immediate saving measures, like CPR.

Below is a list of reasons why enrolling in an accredited life support course, like a BLS certification (Basic Life Support), may prove extremely beneficial for you in the long run.

Perform High-Quality CPR

Basic Life Support of Demonstrating chest compressions on CPR doll
Image source: adobestock.com

If you have no prior formal medical training, a life support certification will teach you how to perform high-quality CPR. You’ll learn how to identify important breathing patterns, locate vital chest centers, and perform effective chest compressions.

Compressions are one of the most vital components of CPR because they help restore normal blood circulation. When BLS certified individuals administer CPR to cardiac arrest patients, they create a virtual heartbeat that produces a sizeable stroke volume that’s required to deliver oxygen to the brain. Typically, chest compressions pump blood throughout the victim’s body, delivering oxygen-rich blood to multiple organs. But the most important anatomical part is the brain due to its increased vulnerability to oxygen deficiency.

If you register today for basic life support training, you’ll learn how to perform fast and impactful compressions.  You’ll also be able to gauge pause time between each compression, which is necessary to restore the chest to its normal position before each thrust.

Overall, you’ll learn two important components of high-quality CPR in life support training:

  • Providing compressions
  • Giving breaths

Without life support training, you’ll only be good enough to perform hands-only CPR, which is devoid of the second component–breaths. Should you choose to give breaths, make sure you use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to protect yourself from mouth-to-mouth bacterial and viral transfer.

Boost Confidence

Confidence is extremely important in certain professions, especially those dealing with ‘high care’ individuals, such as the elderly and children.

BLS training will impart confidence for you to handle emergencies quickly and effectively. You’ll learn stress management tips to remove the jitters and anxiety often associated with high stakes first aid situations.

Because you have life support certifications, you’ll feel assured that the skills and knowledge you’re applying are right and have a good chance of producing a favorable outcome. In addition, this confidence boost will help you calm collective nerves and guide bystanders as required. Bystanders can be informed to do their part by calling 911 and provide other types of assistance.

A life support certification will also increase your trust rating in the eyes of your clients and loved ones; they’ll know that they’ll have the life support they need if they’re met with an unfortunate accident.

Increases Your Appeal To Employers

When reviewing applicants, suitors often look favorably at individuals who are life support certified and familiar with lifesaving techniques, such as AES and CPR. Life support certifications can impart these qualities, giving you a competitive edge in the hiring process.

Some employers also list life support certification in their eligibility criteria. So, if you want to break into a broader market, life support training will create a great impression on your resume.

Ensure Personal Safety Before Engagement

Helping hands, care for the elderly concept
Image source: adobestock.com

Before you engage a patient, you need to make sure your surrounding environment doesn’t pose a danger to your safety. If the person requiring medical assistance is a victim of poison gas, electrocution, or other environmentally pervasive threat, you won’t be able to help the person directly.

BLS training will familiarize and educate you on unsafe medical care. Tapping on the shoulder and addressing the patient in a loud and resonant voice before engaging are some things you’ll learn in a good BLS course. Furthermore, you’ll also know the exact moment when things are out of hand and require calling an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) on the scene.

Remember, the important thing is to ensure your safety first. If you’re incapacitated, and the patient’s incapacitated, and there’s nobody who’s BLS certified individual around, it’ll only make matters worse.

You’ll only learn these important lessons when you’re in a life support classroom.

Final Thoughts

A good basic life support certification can instill confidence, knowledge, and skills to perform vital lifesaving medical care. You don’ necessarily have to be a health care professional to take a life support class. Any individual who wants to stay one step ahead of emergencies can partake and benefit.

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