It has been 6 months since that drowning encounter in Rottness , Perth.
Had set my mind to be equipped with some first aid, especially CPR techniques.
Though I never would wish to use it in any circumstances hopefully. But, it is perhaps a skill which I thought it would be useful should I encounter another similar case in future . That helpless scene at the beach haunted me for a while.
So after 3 days of learning and practising & tests ...bandages (Arm Sling vs elevated slings & when to use with different types of fractures), CPR, use of AED and being aware of the standard procedures of basic first aid to choking, scalds, stings, fractures, burns, bleeds, non-breathing events, finally got the above certification which is valid for 2 years.
But as the instructor had reiterated, it is important to be bold to put that to the good use when circumstances arise. And not to freak out!
Afterthots
Interestingly, our creator God has given to us some major organs like the heart and lungs. Once the heart stopped beating within the critical time frame of 4 -6 minutes, the survival rate of the person diminishes. The brain dies.
So until I attended this course did I appreciate the importance of time.
My pair of hands that is supposed to do the 30:2 compressions of 4-6cm deep is actually a critical "pump" on behalf of a non-beating heart for that non-breathing victim. And we are required to do at least 100-120 compressions per cycle - non stop. And that is actually a pretty exhausting physical activity!
The Heart. Our Breath.
I cannot even hold my breath for more than 1/2 a minute!
Reflection
The Red Cross Symbol is actually a symbol of hope. So with this training which just ended, I pray that my pair of hands would become a hope to anyone in distress with cardiac arrest or choking in future.
In Gen2:7 : The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living thing. (That is you and me)
In Job 33:4 : Job declared " The Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life"
When Paul was passing by Athens in Acts 17:22, he found the people worshiping "an unknown God".
Are we ignorant or indecisive to believe there is such a Creator God who create humans and that He alone holds our breath and determines our days on earth?
The Human Heart is such a complicated organ - with the chambers and the valves and the arteries that drives the whole body into its being. It looks as if God is forever doing His CPR on us with the unique heart which He had wonderfully created..
Acts 17:24-26 "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is the Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands. Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything., seeing he gives to all life, and breath and all things. And he has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and the bound of their habitation"
Pause for a moment, my friends.
Place your hand on your chest AND feel the pumping of your heart.
Place your three fingers on your left wrist or the upper left elbow and marvel at the consistent beats.
Have you ever wondered why you are still alive today now?
Well, Acts 17:28 -29 declares this wonder of life. "For in him we live, and move, and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said , For we are also his offspring. Foreasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like to gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device"
And I suggest that we shall not remain ignorant or indifferent or indecisive now. Listen to your beating heart.
I pray that you would seek the Lord, feel after him and find him. He is not far from us actually.
Because Acts 17:30 " And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent."
Time to resuscitate your "dead' heart with a heart of repentance? Time to inject the electric current of 160 joules using your AED to allow the Holy Spirit to come through?
Now is the time. Wait no more. Remember it only takes less than 6 min for your brain to die once your heart stops beating. And you may never know when that beating heart of yours will actually stop its thumping! And once you are brain dead, you will no longer be ignorant cos the brain cannot think anymore. You need not decide cos you have lost your capability to make decisions. You are no different from a living corpse!
