CNN’s report on the tragic story of a five year-old kindergarten student in Marlborough, MA choking to death while on a bus ride to school was forwarded to me. 

The bus driver pulled over after being alerted of the emergency and called immediately for help. The child was reportedly choking on a foreign object. Since brain death begins to occur within four to six minutes of being deprived oxygen, EMS response time is critical. But really what is more critical is whether bus drivers, as the only adults present in this type of scenario, are trained in First Aid/CPR. School bus drivers across the nation are entrusted with the safety of our children.  Any adult who has the responsibility for caring for a child - be it for 20 minutes or for 6 hours - needs to be adequately trained in first aid/CPR and needs to be constantly refreshed on that information. Practice decreases panic. Accidents do happen. Adults need to be prepared to take care of the children in their care.

I certainly don’t think memory failure is just a “senior” problem. Studies over the years have validated time and time again that CPR retention rates are poor. Even for families who have incentive to remember CPR and First Aid skills, memory lapses and panic get in the way of not only parents, but teachers, co-workers and even medical professionals. Unless you encounter problems or situations regularly, the skills to solve those problems disappear.

I used to be a whiz at algebra. Haven’t used it since High School. If my nephew asked me to help him with his homework, I am certain I would look blankly at his paper.

We have been teaching CPR methods for 40 years yet survival rates have remained in the 5% range. Is memory / skill retention the problem? Perhaps. Any experiences dealing with memory lapses and / or panic? What did you do? Did it affect the outcome?