This article originally appeared on 12onyourside.com
Inside Richmond Ambulance Authority’s headquarters along Hermitage Road, Harold Mayfield walks through the steps you can take to save a life when someone goes into cardiac arrest.
“The first thing you do is identify the patient and see if they need your help,” Mayfield said. “You’re looking at the chest to see if it rises or falls.”
One of those lessons includes how to perform CPR.
“I push hard and fast 100 to 120 beats per minute, so it’ll look something like this,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield said anyone can learn and should know how to jump in and help at a moment’s notice.
“A lot of times what happens is people get a little worried am I going to do it right? Am I going to hurt the person? These are things that go in their mind to where they don’t jump in and help,” Mayfield said. “Learning this is going to help you with that to understand I’m not really hurting the patient, I’m helping them.”
Mayfield has spent years teaching others, so it was time for 12 On Your Side’s Desiree Montilla to learn these skills.
On Wednesday morning, Mayfield walked her through how to perform CPR.
“Get your shoulders over, you want them to feel like they’re over the body a little bit,” Mayfield said during the lesson.
This lesson was far from over as we traveled to the Henrico Sports and Events Center to test these skills at the CPR kiosk.
Alongside the American Heart Association, Montilla tested her skills at the kiosk, where she passed the test.
However, the test goes beyond the score, encouraging everyone to learn these life-saving skills.
“CPR is the most selfless act,” Mayfield said. “Nine times out of ten, cardiac arrest happens outside the hospital. With that being the case, it can be a loved one, it can be a friend, somebody you know and the last thing you want to do is be that person to stand on the sidelines and be like I wish I can help and not be able to.”
To learn CPR, click here. To find a CPR class near you, click here.
