CPR and a Cocktail

by Raul Jauregui, volunteer contributor

DFW YPA members learn
life-saving CPR techniques

Do you ever feel like you could be doing more to give back? 

This is one question I constantly toss around in my mind. I wanted to join an organization that had the same ideas of giving back as I did. Being a young professional, the Red Cross DFW Young Professional’s Auxiliary (YPA) seemed like the perfect answer to my question. 

The YPA is a social networking group that comes together every couple of months to promote the Red Cross or introduce different types of Red Cross services, like life-saving training at the event held at SISU Bar and Restaurant last month. Keith Bridges of the Red Cross demonstrated techniques and steps on how to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). 

The session was impromptu with several people huddled around a demonstration table…until it buckled under the weight of the volunteers who were learning the chest pump technique! It was a humorous moment, but it did not stop Keith from showing how to properly apply the chest pump. The volunteers moved to a more secured table and Keith took the opportunity to give tricks and insights on CPR, like how the timing of applied chest pumps is the same beat as the Bee Gees song "Staying Alive." It is the simple trivia that can make all the difference.

Red Cross instructor Keith Bridges teaches CPR
techniques at a YPA event last month.

The training got many of the event attendees interested in taking formal CPR training at the local Red Cross Dallas Area Chapter so they could save lives through a few more hours of their time. (P.S. Since it’s National CPR/AED Awareness Week, it’s the perfect time to look into getting trained! June class schedules for DFW are now up at RedCross.org/DFW.)

Red Cross YPA events like these always add value because it brings together many types of young professionals who don't normally cross paths. It’s an extra opportunity to meet others who have similar interests to you and learn the degrees of separation that are closer to Kevin Bacon than you realize. Each event always leaves me feeling like I gave more back to my community than when I first walked in. For me, these are the beginning steps to giving back with an organization I feel fits me. It’s the opening chapter in what I hope is a long story with the Red Cross.

If you want to support the YPA, check out our Red Hot Summer Fiesta this Thursday, June 6 starting at 6pm at Hacienda on Henderson. 100% of proceeds will benefit Red Cross Disaster Relief. To learn more, visit us online at RedCross.org/DFW or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AmericanRedCrossDFWYPA.

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