I just completed my Basic Life Support (BLS) refresher course to keep my certification up-to-date. According to the American Heart Association, more than 7,ooo children suffer from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, and they are even more likely to need rescue breathing or treatment for choking. Time is critical, so having a parent or caretaker who is trained in CPR and other BLS skills is so important.

If you have never had this kind of training or if it has been a while and you are feeling rusty, you might want to consider signing up for one of the following courses:

• Friends & Family CPR classes (American Heart Association)
• Infant CPR Anytime® Training Kits – learn the basics within 20 minutes from the comfort of your home (American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics)
• Red Cross First Aid & CPR – Online CPR Course Available

It’s the kind of knowledge you pray you never have to use, but are glad you could if you had to.