Top 10 CPR & First Aid Safety Tips

December — CPR & First Aid

The indoor month. Build the skill that makes every other month survivable.

1. Take a certified CPR and AED course, and refresh it every two years.
2. Learn hands-only CPR: call 911, push hard and fast in the center of the chest, about 100–120 compressions a minute, at least 2 inches deep.
3. Find the AEDs you walk past every week — gym, office, rink, marina. Use one the moment it's available.
4. Learn bleeding control: firm direct pressure, and a tourniquet placed high and tight on a limb for bleeding you can't stop.
5. Build three kits — home, vehicle, and pack — and check expiration dates once a year.
6. Recognize stroke with FAST: Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call 911. See Environmental Emergencies for a full guide to stroke, heat stroke, heat exhaustion and hypothermia.
7. Know the signs of a heart attack, including the subtler ones: jaw or back pain, nausea, shortness of breath.
8. Learn how to respond to choking in adults, children, and infants — the technique is different for each.
9. Take a Wilderness First Aid course if you recreate more than an hour from help. Standard first aid assumes an ambulance is coming.
10. Know how to call for help. Coordinates, nature of the emergency, number of people, and what you've already done. Practice sending an SOS on your satellite communicator.

First aid on a boat? See Marine First Aid: CPR on a moving deck, AEDs around water, hypothermia and VHF distress calls.

Want this broken into weekly topics? See the December Weekly Content Calendar.

Not into CPR & first aid this month? Try sledding & tubing instead — lower-risk, lower-cost snow fun than downhill skiing, good for families.

Part of the Rec+Safe Theme of the Month calendar. Ask about Rec+Safe gift cards and memberships this month.