Taylor Pollock

It’s National CPR and AED Awareness Week, and one organization wants you to know that learning how to use these life saving tools can make a difference.

The Mid-Alabama Red Cross says it can happen to anyone at any time, and that if you learn what to do when someone has a cardiac related event, you could help save a life.

According to the Red Cross, roughly 300,000 people die from a cardiac related event every year.

The organization says the more people who are trained to perform CPR and use an AED, the greater the chance a trained person will be nearby if someone does need them.

The Red Cross has been highlighting the need for training all week, and say you can never assume there will be someone else who is trained.

“I wish that everybody knew that the next person’s not going to do it, and what I mean by that is we all have that mentality that ‘oh well I don’t have to know it somebody in the room will know it, somebody will do it,’ but that’s not always the case, you may be that person,” Says Annette Rowland, a spokesperson for the Mid-AL Red Cross.

You can find out how to take certification classes on the Mid-AL Red Cross website.