Call for cheaper CPR courses

LEANNE Jonson touches wood when she says she has never had to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a child.
As a director of Yarra Glen Childcare Centre, she is trained in CPR and more capable of dealing with coronary failure than the majority of parents.
Three weeks ago all the staff at the centre did a refresher course that has brought them up to speed with recent changes to the technique.
“It’s part of our accreditation, but you wouldn’t want to be without it,” she said.
Ms Jonson said choking, cot death (sudden infant death syndrome), shock, asthma attack, anaphalactic reaction or a congenital heart problem, all were things that, in the worst case, could lead to heart failure.
“We just hope we are never, ever put in that situation, but having the training means we know what to do if we are,” she said.
Helen Rowan, manager of Family Services at the Royal Children’s Hospital, backs up Ms Jonson’s statement of the dangers children can face.
“After road trauma, drowning is the second highest cause of death in children,” she said.
“We see people who are devastated because they didn’t know what to do until the ambulance arrived,” Ms Rowan said.
“They are distraught because they felt so helpless and there is often a lot of guilt, and blame, around unintentional injury.”
Ms Rowan said six-hour pediatric emergency care courses, including CPR, were run at the hospital most Saturdays.
The courses, run by Emergcare cost $80. Courses can also be run in other areas for groups of 10 or more.
Emergcare can be contacted on 9304 1622.