Knowing CPR can make you smiley, too! :)

Do you have an American Red Cross story to tell? Maybe you’ve donated blood. Or taken a CPR class. Or been grateful someone else did.

I’ve used skills I gained in an American Red Cross class twice, and been poised to several other times. Even though I’ve been scared each time, I was so glad I knew how to do SOMETHING in those situations. There is nothing worse than seeing someone in a critical moment and standing by helplessly. It’s awful.

The first time I chanted ‘Airway, Breathing, Circulation’ (the ABC’s of First Aid I learned years ago) was in a restaurant. A toddler started choking on a piece of candy the family had grabbed as they exited. I was just coming in and saw the moment it went from `she’s okay’ to `oh my God’. I’m pretty sure I did everything wrong, looking back. It was like it all went into slow motion. I took her from her parents and tried to sweep the candy out of her mouth first. When that didn’t work, I turned her over, angled her slightly upside down over my arm and whacked her back. That dislodged the candy and I was able to sweep the candy out. It still makes me a bit shaky to this day how fast it all happened. I handed the girl back to the parents without a word exchanged. I often wonder why they let me just take their daughter from them. I didn’t say anything to the parents—I think you are supposed to say `I know First Aid, do you need help’ or something official sounding like that.

The second time everything I didn’t know about First Aid rushed through my head was when I happened upon what I thought was a car accident. It was actually a man having a heart attack and his wife had steered the car to the shoulder of the road when he lost consciousness. I was the first person on the scene who had any training, so with the help of some guys that had stopped, we got the man out of the car. I felt freaked out at the prospect of actually performing CPR on someone. I was trying to determine if he actually needed CPR by listening for a heartbeat and assessing his breathing when a nurse showed up on scene. I was happy to hand off my Red Cross pocket mask to her.

And then there is the time my child choked on food, sitting right at the kitchen table. After trying to cough and not be able to, I saw the panic cross her face as she realized she was choking. It was horrible. Horrible. Luckily, she cleared the bite without my help. But what if she couldn’t have? I don’t know that I would’ve done it perfectly, but I’m very glad that I would’ve known enough to probably save her life.

Most people (especially parents) want to know basic First Aid. But our lives get busy and (thankfully) our day to day activities don’t call for life-saving skills. But what if you did know enough to help someone? What if you were scared and nervous, but you were the person that knew at least something to do, instead of watching helplessly in a situation where the knowledge of a few basic skills would make a difference?

If you would like to learn First Aid, CPR, or even know a babysitter-aged kid who would like to take the Red Cross Babysitter course, the American Red Cross is offering a discount to classes in the Denver area. Click to go to the Mile High Chapter of the Red Cross to look at course listings and sign up. Enter the code ‘BLOGGER’ to receive a 15% discount on classes!

There is never going to be a perfect time to take it in a busy life. And you’ll never regret having the knowledge you will gain from a course. But you may be very glad someday that you do.

Do you have a Red Cross story to share? Leave a comment, or better yet, post it on your blog and leave a link in the comments here. Feel free to share the discount code with your readers!

(Photo courtesy of PhotoXpress.com)

© 2010, melissa caddell. All rights reserved. If you steal my stuff, I will also be really, really mad.

An acquaintance through Girl Scouts has a carolling party every year. This is her 14th year. She gets a bunch of friends together and they do a loop through her neighborhood.

I was slightly unexcited about going, honestly, as I don’t know the Girl Scout moms very well (make that at all, as I basically just throw The Sunshine Child out the door ’cause we are always late). That, and tromping through the snow with potentially whiney children (mine, not anyone else’s) just didn’t strike me as all that festive.

But I went. And, honestly, it was a little bit of magic. I took The Sunshine Child and The Pixie Child well-bundled up. We had some snacks, armed all the 12 kids with bells(ranging in age 3-12ish)and hit the neighborhood.

I was completely unprepared for the pure, sweet joy it brought. The kids would start singing and shaking their bells, families would come to the door. The sheer delight on people’s faces literally moved me to tears. What a lovely thing to do. Intentionally reaching out to share goodness.

The Pixie Child decided to make a snow angel for each person’s yard. She would run to the yard, throw herself down in the snow, and vigorously make an angel. I would help her up and she would dash off to catch up with the singers. She did this in every single yard.

I hope that people see that sweet little angel in their yards and know the kindness of a small stranger.

© 2007 – 2009, melissa caddell. All rights reserved. If you steal my stuff, I will also be really, really mad.

Recently, The Gap Corporation was exposed for having a product line that had been made by children in sweatshops. These were children who had been bonded (i.e., sold for a fee paid to their parents) to a factory owner. On an international level, bonded children are oftentimes “bought” from their parents for as little as $5, though they are also out-right kidnapped at times. They work for no money, 12-16 hour days, with no contact with their parents. The children are as young as 5.

It got me thinking. At first, I was shocked. I noted the exotic places that their clothes labels have listed on them and was horrified to think that my children could be wearing something that a child their age had been forced to make in appalling conditions.

Then, an acquaintance that travels to developing nations quite a bit made an interesting point: what else are these children going to do?

There is a distinction between sweatshops who use bonded children and those who don’t bond the kids. Bonded children should absolutely be rescued. The Gap Corporation (as well as many other multi-national corporations) has a program that is supposed to force any contractors who are caught bonding children to provide schooling and money to the children. They are also required to offer them a job when they are of a legal age to work. (Check out http://globalmarch.org for more information on this issue.)

What about those developing nations where children (or their families) make the choice to work in a sweatshop? In the relative comfort of our homes, we seem to have this idealized view that these children would have a better life if they weren’t sewing beads onto shirts for long hours, in difficult conditions, for what we consider to be little pay. Yes, this is awful. But how would their lives be better if they weren’t working? Living on the street? Involved in crime or prostitution? It’s not like these children would be home with full bellies and attending school in crisp uniforms. They choose to work in sweatshops because they (and their families) don’t have a plethora of other options.

Does anyone recall that America used child labor heavily during the Industrial Revolution? It’s one of the reasons that American industry evolved. One theory by economists is that by choosing clothes made in sweatshops, we (as consumers) provide for a greater demand for sweatshop labor (a twisted way of thinking, I concur). This increases competition for labor, forcing factory owners to improve wages and working conditions, ultimately driving the country to more development. Hmmm….

(As an aside, a report by The Christian Science Monitor in 2005 showed that 90% of the countries involved in sweatshop labor paid a wage that was higher then the average wage for that country. Remember the Kathy Lee Gifford sweatshop scandal in Honduras a few years ago? The average wage for 44% of people in Honduras at the time was $2 a day. The average wage for one of her sweatshop laborers was $13.10. A thought to consider….).

So, what does this mean for me as a suburban mom? It means that I need to be more aware of what companies are doing to avoid using bonded children. I applaud the efforts of organizations that find and rescue children from slave labor. America should not trade with countries that would permit abuse of their children, in any capacity. I need to know a little bit about how countries invest in their children (one source is UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children–I look at child mortality rate and % of children enrolled in school: .

But am I going to join with the “sweatshop free” crowd? No, I don’t think I will. The tank top marked “Made in Vietnam” might actually represent a child or family who is glad of the chance to earn a wage and has hope of a better future, partly because moms like me are paying attention.

© 2007 – 2009, melissa caddell. All rights reserved. If you steal my stuff, I will also be really, really mad.