Soon All Will Be Safer in My Presence

Life List #65. get CPR certified

This will be happening on Thursday, March 18. 9-6pm. That's one long day of resuscitating dolls of adults, children and infants!!!

This item was put on my list a long time ago not for the actual overarching idea of helping my fellow man (although that IS pretty clutch), but because four years ago, I actually almost choked to death on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was the day before my 28th birthday and I was just hanging out in my apartment on a lazy Sunday morning after a night out. I made myself a basic PB&J (smooth PB -- I've now switched to crunchy). On literally the first bite, it got lodged deep in my throat. I didn't quite chew it enough (I SAID it was a lazy Sunday, didn't I?). I scurried around my apartment trying to find countertops to push myself into in an attempt to dislodge it -- I had seen my older sister do this once at my parents' house long ago. It wasn't working and although I had considered running into the hall to my neighbors apartment, I was just in a t-shirt and underwear so my weird twisted idiotic logic said "I can't go out in the hall while I'm choking with no pants on!!!" Funny now... pretty stupid then. Or not... I still don't know.

In any case, I went into the bathroom (this had to be over a minute or maybe even two) to try to push myself on that counter with its rounded corners and as it wasn't working, I looked up and saw a purple scary face peering back in the mirror. My panic took control and I literally bent over and puked my guts out. That reaction literally saved my life... my airway was free and I had avoided death by PB&J. However that next week I literally couldn't even take a sip of water without excrutiating pain. Turns out after a visit to the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor, I had pretty severely "burnt" the inside of my throat from the friction of the lodged sandwich. In any case, I learned my lessons: 1. Its a pretty good idea to take a CPR class at least once so I have some sense of what to do in an emergency. 2. Take smaller bites and chew them obviously. And of course, 3. Put some pants on, for Pete's sake.

So I'm really looking forward to this class and just knowing that I have the power to do something in that sort of scary situation God forbit it ever happened again.

Also, on a side note: why is it that the Toledo-area seems to have so much more First Aid/CPR classes than all of Boston and NYC areas? Do they realize its a lot smaller population? I've been looking into taking this class for years and not only do I suddenly have tons of options, but its also ridiculously cheaper!

Be inspired yourself -- take a CPR/First Aid class if they are available near you (Red Cross, Salvation Army, YMCA, local hospitals). Sadly, you never know when you'll need it!!!