American Red Cross Celebrates September as National Preparedness - KOAM TV 7

American Red Cross Celebrates September as National Preparedness Month

Former paramedic, Thomas Zeller teaches a group of kids CPR.. The Red Cross professional knows the hands on procedure for citizen CPR.

"You want to put your palm down, you want to cup your hand, that way you can cover the chest, and be directly above them and you want to compress it at 100 times a minute." Zeller says.

Red cross statistics show 25 percent of Americans experience a situation where someone needs CPR. Whether it be of natural causes - or due to disaster...the Red Cross wants you to be ready.

"In cardiac arrest, the quicker you can get advanced life support to the person - the better chance they have to survive." he says.

But not knowing ..when a disaster will strike....  Would you be ready at a moments notice?

"When you hit a disaster, you don't know how your mental status could be. So you end up forgetting a lot of things that normally in a normal situation you would remember." Zeller says.

The answer is simple...prepare. While the red cross teaches CPR, the Joplin Police give parents information child protection and bicycle safety.. And save a life Saturday even featured a singing fire hydrant.

"Once a year, it's a company wide program that we do, it's a kid safety event that we usually do every September." says Jennifer Dynkens, service manager at Old Navy, where today's event was held.

Zeller believes the more citizen bystanders trained in the skill, the more lives that can be saved.

For more information on the CPR classes, click here or copy this link into your browser:
http://www.ozarksredcross.org/