CPR is an important thing to know. It is common knowledge that if you see a person that is lying on the ground, unconscious, and is not breathing, you need to give them CPR(Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation’s) right away.

Sadly, about 70 percent of Americans do not know how to properly preform CPR. These are times that CPR would come in handy if you are in a situation that CPR may be needed, and could save someones life.

“I think that it is wonderful to have because we never know when something might happen.It could happen at school, home, or in public. Your knowledge could be saving someones life in the future,” Kristy Kelly, the schools main nurse, said.

What is even more shocking is that only 25 states are required to go over CPR in high school. Luckily, Washington is one of the 25 states required to teach CPR.

“That scares and shocks me. I think all states should all learn and teach it. Especially the teachers. Most teachers are not required to learn CPR unless they are involved with sports or moving activities,” Kelly said.

According to The American Heart Association, about 70 percent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen in homes. This means that only about 46 percent of cases have people that receive the assistance that they need before the professionals actually arrive.

“Teaching CPR in high school here is very new. I believe, it became a requirement to be taught about two years ago. But I still think that we should increase it to all schools around the U.S. because you just never know when you might need it,” Kelly said.

So let’s say that in Wyoming, a state not required to teach CPR, a student suddenly falls to the ground. There is no one in the school, other than the gym teachers, that knows CPR to help. After about two minutes, a teacher that know CPR arrive to help. In that time frame, a student could have a higher chance in surviving if students or other staff knew how to preform CPR.