There is something to be said for knowing what to do in a medical emergency. Countless caregivers have been inspired to go into the field of health care to gain the knowledge, skills and training to be one of the elite few who actually know what to do when a fellow human being’s life is on the line.

The most that everyone else in these situations can usually do is call 911 (not to underestimate the importance of that), stand by helplessly and hope that somebody who can help comes along real soon. This is certainly not to say that a career in health care is for everyone.  However for those who choose this type of career, the most lucrative rewards are sometimes paid in having the power to help.

Aside from a professional health career, what keeps people from learning even CPR or basic first aid? There is such a high probability that they will, at some point in their lifetime, witness a medical incident where someone needs help.

Anyone who has taken CPR has heard the American Heart Association statistics about how survival rates from cardiac arrest and stroke are drastically improved by early bystander assistance. Yet, in most situations I have witnessed as a nurse and an EMT, there is not an abundance of trained people at the scene, all fighting for a chance to help.

I sympathize with those onlookers, because I would imagine that the feeling of not knowing how to help in those situations, of being powerless, must be incredibly scary. As a former CPR instructor, I did my best to alleviate my students’ anxiety about learning to save a life. I would start each class saying, “I know what your biggest fear is – that you’re going to try to help but make the situation worse.

Guess what? If it’s a CPR situation the person is dead and you can’t make dead worse.” It was graphic, blunt and it got everyone’s attention – and usually a laugh.

When you train to become a health care provider, in any care giving capacity, you not only have the power and knowledge to “not make it worse” but you also gain the extraordinary power to save and improve lives. Whether in the course of the workday, or outside of it, health care workers make things better just by being one of the elite few who know what to do when nobody else does.