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Senior Correspondent

Q.  How do I go about learning CPR?

If you would like to learn CPR, contact the American Heart Association. Another CPR resource is the American Red Cross. Or, you can try a local hospital.

CPR, which stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, employs chest compression and mouth-to-mouth breathing to treat cardiac arrest, heart attack, drowning and electrocution. CPR can keep some blood flowing to the brain and heart during an emergency.

Maintaining blood flow can prevent brain injury and save a life. The brain suffers irreparable damage in a few minutes if it doesn’t get oxygenated blood. An unaided victim of cardiac arrest will die in 5 to 10 minutes.

To learn CPR properly, take an accredited first-aid training course. There is no substitute for taking a course from a trained instructor, but it would be helpful to understand the basics of CPR. 

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