A Call to Action - We ALL deserve to have life saving skills!

10 days ago my son went into cardiopulmonary arrest due to a tracheal displacement - a fancy medical way to say that 10 days ago my son died, on my lap, his first time at summer camp because he pulled out the tube in his throat that he breathes through. Yes, there was an incredible team that came together and we all saved him, and I know this is going to sound facetious or pompous or whatever, but it was also MY knowledge of what to do that helped get him back and allows me to write this with him laying beside me happily watching Toy Story.

Talking to my Mom's psw today, she was surprised that all parents aren't provided CPR training - and for the very first time in my life I actually thought about it. I am so privileged in life, having been trained in life saving CPR skills since I was a young girl that I never even thought about it. Think about it for a minute - we have prenatal classes that are free in Canada - and we learned how to breath during labour and how to look for signs of good development in our children - and in ours we even learned that when men put on the pregnancy belly to mimic what a woman feels like that the belly is a great place for a beer - insert laughing eye roll here! but did we get down and learn how to clear out the airway of our children if they start to choke? Did we learn what places on our children are good to look for to feel a pulse? Did we learn what it is like for a child to have a seizure if their fever gets too high? Did we learn what to do other than call 911 if our children were to, heaven forbid, go into cardio-pulmonary arrest?

Simple answer, no. Doing a quick search, anyone can go for basic first aid and CPR with a well known and reputable, and I have taken their training, very good organization - for $185. $185 and then $130 every few years to stay current and certified.

What if we found a way to make CPR and First Aid training more common and part of our everyday world. Listen up, instead of paint nights and wine tours (which let's face it, still are a very important part of our world and we love them) what if we had CPR / First Aid nights? What if that was part of company culture and staff bonding to have CPR / First Aid training days? What if being on a team also meant starting off the season with a CPR/First Aid training event for all the players? What if we did scenarios as part of our health classes at school?

I know there are many who may fear having this knowledge - there is no judgment here. I know I am so lucky that I am good under pressure and can turn off my emotions. I know it surprised and shocked people 10 days ago when I was able to shut it all off and start bagging my own son and take over doing chest compressions when needed. I am so lucky. Not everyone can do that. We all react differently - the whole flight, fight, freeze or fawn response to danger - I get it. It is the reason why as I teenager I choose not to take my lifeguarding certification and feared going down the medical studies route - because I feared having people's lives resting on my shoulders and capabilities.

But what if the knowledge was simply part of our everyday world. Something that we could access if we needed it and it could help. Shouldn't those who want that knowledge be able to gain it for free and not be on the rare side of individuals, but rather the majority?

And to those in the generations coming up, that are so are good at the whole social media thing and memorable songs and jingles - let's come up with jingles and song to help us remember what to do and the speed to do things because if this lady, whose brain often resembles cheesecloth can remember -967-11-11 phone pizza pizza hey hey hey and budha budha bahh, i'm loving it then there has to be a catchy tune we can get imprinted in our brains for the steps to save a person's life!!

We should all have the knowledge to save our precious ones.

Because, having the knowledge of how to save a person's life should not be a privilege, it should be a right.