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Ryan Reynolds once took a toddler-focused CPR class and ended up saving his nephew's life

Everyone should learn this simple skill.

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"It takes only a few hours and it's also kinda, sorta fun."

Summer is here. The season of backyard barbecues, long evenings by the bonfire, and a nagging worry that every parent can relate to — the dangers that come with a swimming pool.

The chances a child will die from drowning are relatively low, according to the CDC. But still — it's great to be prepared to step in and help with CPR, should it ever be necessary.

Actor Ryan Reynolds definitely thinks so.

Reynolds recently went to a CPR training class focused on toddlers and infants.

Reynolds and his wife, fellow A-lister Blake Lively (who also attended the class), are parents to two young daughters: 2-year-old James and 9-month old Ines.

\u201cWe're #ThankfulFor Ryan Reynolds' Twitter. We're also thankful his daughters don't have Twitter. (\ud83d\udcf7: Getty Images)\u201d
— E! News (@E! News) 1637865915

The actor posted a photo from his CPR class to Instagram on June 27, noting how being certified once helped him save a family member's life.

"Years ago, I took a CPR course thru the Red Cross," Reynolds wrote. "And holy shit, I ended up saving my nephew's life because I knew what to do! True story!"

See on Instagram

"Yesterday I took a refresher course — focusing on infant and toddler CPR," the actor continued. "It takes only a few hours and it's also kinda, sorta fun."

Lively also encouraged her followers to get trained if they haven't already.

"Google 'infant CPR class near me' and you'll see lots of listings," she wrote.

See on Instagram

The Livelys are right: Learning CPR is quick, easy, and certainly worth the trouble.

Nothing can give you the same in-depth instruction as a course taught by a professional (you can easily find an American Red Cross CPR training in your area). But there are still plenty of helpful guides online with free resources you can access to help you get started.

As Lively noted, just knowing you have the know-how to help in a critical moment will let you enjoy those backyard poolside barbecues this summer, feeling a little more carefree.

"For those of you who haven't done it, you will love it," she wrote on Instagram. "It's so helpful by giving you knowledge, tools, and some peace of mind."

Here's an overview on CPR instructions so you can better understand what a training course entails:

This article originally appeared on 06.27.17

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Joy

Taco Bell manager called a 'guardian angel' after saving a choking baby

The heroic deed was caught on video.

via Mike Mozart/Flickr

A Taco Bell drive-thru.

Natasha Long, a mother in Pennsylvania, is calling Taco Bell Manager Becky Arbaugh her “guardian angel” after she saved her 11-month-old son who stopped breathing. Long was out running some errands with her son when she pulled into a Taco Bell drive-thru in Richboro when she realized that something was wrong.

"I ran out of the car and ran around and opened the car door," Long told ABC affiliate WPVI. "I pulled him out and he turned completely blue and was lifeless. At that point, I just completely blacked out. I didn't know what to do."

Arbaugh, who was busy working the lunch rush, heard Long call out for help. "I heard a scream, and then someone yelled out, 'Call 911, the baby isn’t breathing!'" she told Good Morning America. Arbuagh wasted no time running to Long’s aid while one of her employees dialed 911.

"I threw my headset and ran outside to the baby. The mom was panicked. I told her to give him to me and I performed CPR," Arbaugh recalled. "I was trying to calm her down and comfort her and reassure her that he will be fine."

"The baby finally started to breathe. The ambulance came pretty quickly and then they took over," Arbaugh said. "The EMT said I saved his life."

Pennsylvania Taco Bell manager helps save baby who couldn't breathe

Arbaugh, a mother of 2 boys and 2 girls, was well-versed in how to perform infant CPR and understood the importance of staying calm. "When my kids were little, my daughter had a similar incident, so I knew what she was feeling," she told WPVI. "I knew if I kept her calm and I stayed calm, there was no thought in my mind that the baby wasn't going to breathe again."

Taco Bell’s employees are proud of Arbaugh’s heroic deed. "We are incredibly proud of Becky from the Taco Bell brand’s Richboro, PA, location for her heroic act earlier this week. We are getting in touch to express appreciation for her quick actions and kindness,” the company said in a statement to People.

Since the incident, the women have been in contact with each other and are friends on Facebook. Long has been sharing pictures and videos of her son with Arbaugh to remind her of the precious life she saved. Even though Arbaugh performed the ultimate good deed, saving a baby’s life, she doesn’t consider herself a hero—just another mom looking out for her own.

"I’m just a mom helping a mom. I didn’t do anything different from what anyone else should be doing," Arbaugh told NBC. "I knew how that was, and I heard it, and I felt it instantly and I had to go and help her cause I knew it’s painful. You’re just so helpless as a mom when that happens."

This incredible story out of Pennsylvania is a reminder for every one of the importance of learning CPR. You never know when—just like Arbaugh—you may find yourself in the position to save a life.

To sign up for a class and learn how to perform CPR, visit RedCross.com.

"The baby finally started to breathe. The ambulance came pretty quickly and then they took over," Arbaugh said. "The EMT said I saved his life."

[Video]

Since the incident, the women have been in contact with each other, becoming friends on Facebook. Long has been sharing pictures and videos of her son with Arbaugh to reminder of the precious life she saved. Even though Arbaugh performed the ultimate good deed, saving a baby’s life, she doesn’t consider herself a hero—just another mom looking out for her own.

To sign up for a class and learn how to perform CPR, visit RedCross.com.

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Health

You don't have to take a class to learn CPR. Learn the basics with this 2-minute video.

CPR is a life skill everyone needs to know.

Cincinnati Children's/YouTube

You don't need your own mannequin to learn CPR at home.

When 24-year-old Damar Hamlin collapsed on the football field after a tackle on live television, millions of people were concerned. As the Buffalo Bills' quick-thinking assistant trainer began to perform CPR, many feared they had witnessed his death.

Thankfully, CPR began immediately, which likely saved Hamlin's life and may have prevented long-term damage from lack of oxygen to the brain and other vital organs. CPR saves lives. According to the American Heart Association, receiving CPR immediately in an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest event doubles or triples a person's chance of survival.

The key is acting fast when a person shows signs of cardiac arrest, and the key to acting fast is to know what you're doing. That's why everyone should know how to perform CPR.

There are classes you can take to learn CPR and other first aid skills, but in the era of the internet, it's not necessary to take a whole class to get a handle on the basics. While it's certainly nice to have a CPR "Annie" mannequin to practice on, that's also not necessary—you can practice CPR on pillows right at home. You can even make your own CPR mannequin at home using a T-shirt, a two-liter bottle, some rubber bands and some stuffing.

CPR isn't all that complicated and it doesn't take very long to learn. If you've never learned CPR or you need a refresher, there are plenty of videos out there to learn from. However, many of them include a lot of superfluous fluff. Cincinnati Children's Hospital has a very clear, no-nonsense video that shows you how to perform CPR on an adult in less than two minutes.

(Note: This video is for CPR on people ages 12 and older. Cincinnati Children's has similar videos for infant CPR and for CPR for children ages 1 to 12.)

One tip shared by the American Heart Association is to think of the beat to the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" to get the right speed and rhythm while doing CPR. May seem silly and punny, but it's easy to remember.

Also, the reason the person in the video points and says, "You! Call 911!" is because yelling out "Someone call 911!" isn't as effective as telling a specific person to do it. Everyone thinks somebody else will call, so assigning a person is wise.

If you're curious about why and how CPR works, this video offers a cool 3D illustration of exactly what's happening when you do compressions. It also shows what happens if you don't pump hard or fast enough, if you do it too fast or if you don't allow the heart to refill between pumps. Visualizing what's happening inside might help you remember CPR specifics, since the goal is to get blood to pump from the heart to the brain.

It's well worth the few minutes to familiarize yourself with how to perform CPR and do some pillow practice at home. With the availability of AEDs (automated external defibrillators) it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with how to use an AED as well. These machines generally have voice commands that tell you what to do as soon as you turn it on, but always good to know what to expect beforehand.

Most of us hope we'll never be in a situation where someone's life is in our hands, but if it does happen, we definitely want to be prepared.

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Dignity Health

Hello Humankindness

The vital reason these medical professionals want to teach you how to use a tourniquet.

True

On Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas, 59 people were killed and over 500 more were injured in a mass shooting. It was devastating, but that didn't stop people from trying to help.

"People were calling nonstop to our ER, and I'm sure every other ER, asking if they could show up and donate blood," recalls Carolyn Smith, an ER trauma nurse at Dignity Health in Henderson, Nevada. "People were showing up at the door to donate blood at 2 in the morning."

[rebelmouse-image 19398038 dam="1" original_size="780x519" caption="Photo by Master Sgt. Patricia F. Moran/U.S. Air National Guard." expand=1]Photo by Master Sgt. Patricia F. Moran/U.S. Air National Guard.

Smith has been a first responder on the scene at many disasters, both natural and human-caused. One thing she's noticed is that there are often countless people who want to offer their assistance. This was especially apparent in Houston after Hurricane Harvey.

"It was a very humbling experience to see people, not only in Houston, but from all over the state, coming to help no matter what color, what race, what religion, what tax bracket," she recalls.

Obviously giving blood after one of these tragedies is helpful, but what about in the immediate aftermath of something like a shooting? What can you do if someone is actually bleeding out in front of you?

It's easy to feel helpless in the presence of such a situation, but it's in those precise moments that you can be the most helpful.

There are simple steps you can take to try to save someone's life if they're bleeding uncontrollably. They just require some know-how.

— (@)

This graphic comes from a program called "Stop the Bleed," which was launched after the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. It's designed to teach people the basic skills needed to stop a serious bleed from becoming life-threatening.

"They found that there were a significant number of what we call 'preventable deaths' [at Sandy Hook]," explains Dr. Sean Dort, a surgeon at Dignity Health. "If somebody knew the skills we're teaching, they would've been able to save lives."

The free Stop the Bleed program offers explicit guides to help prepare civilians to act in a situation where someone is bleeding profusely. You can also access free bleeding control classes in every state, where trained professionals teach you how to properly put on a tourniquet and pack a wound.

Teachers regularly oversee classes at capacity, which makes sense given that 2017 saw more mass shootings than any other year in modern U.S. history. Gun-shot wounds have become far too commonplace, and people seem to be tired of feeling helpless in the face of them.

A woman putting a tourniquet on a practice dummy. Photo via Dignity Health.

Medical professionals like Smith and Dort hope this impulse to be prepared will be a trend that continues.

"We need to embed [bleeding control] into the American subconscious the way CPR is," says Dort.

If bleeding control was taught, alongside CPR, in schools across the country, kids would head into adulthood armed with two vital sets of lifesaving skills. As a result, future mass shootings and other catastrophic events may not be nearly so devastating.

The more people on the scene equipped to stop bleeding, the better chance victims have of surviving until medical professionals can get to them.

It could be the difference between giving over to panic and turning a potentially bleak situation around.

For more information on how to stop bleeding, check out the video below:

Family

2 things you need to know to save someone's life, set to the beat of 'Stayin' Alive.' CPR is groovy.

Stayin' alive — literally.

Can disco help you save someone's life?

Maybe!

GIF by "Saturday Night Fever."

A fun PSA video by the American Heart Association is spreading the word about CPR in a seriously catchy way.

The scene: A family's having a normal dinner conversation — you know, about how to give CPR properly. (Don't you discuss that at dinner?)

Mom asks the question:

Kids roll their eyes, as kids often do:

But despite the eyerolling, the kids answer correctly with the two vital steps for giving CPR.

First, if you see a teen or adult collapse suddenly, call 911.

Second, push hard and fast at the center of the chest at the rate of at least 100 beats per minute.

And that's where the fun starts. 100 beats per minute. What exactly does that feel like?

Well apparently, the iconic 1970s song "Stayin' Alive" provides a convenient beat for giving CPR! You can actually give properly paced chest compressions to the beat of the song.

GIFs by American Heart Association.

Long live disco! Literally.

cpr

Ryan Reynolds once took a toddler-focused CPR class and ended up saving his nephew's life

Everyone should learn this simple skill.

Reynolds recently went to a CPR training class focused on toddlers and infants.

The Livelys are right: Learning CPR is quick, easy, and certainly worth the trouble.

Taco Bell manager called a 'guardian angel' after saving a choking baby

The heroic deed was caught on video.

Pennsylvania Taco Bell manager helps save baby who couldn't breathe

You don't have to take a class to learn CPR. Learn the basics with this 2-minute video.

CPR is a life skill everyone needs to know.

The vital reason these medical professionals want to teach you how to use a tourniquet.

On Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas, 59 people were killed and over 500 more were injured in a mass shooting. It was devastating, but that didn't stop people from trying to help.

There are simple steps you can take to try to save someone's life if they're bleeding uncontrollably. They just require some know-how.

"We need to embed [bleeding control] into the American subconscious the way CPR is," says Dort.

2 things you need to know to save someone's life, set to the beat of 'Stayin' Alive.' CPR is groovy.

Stayin' alive — literally.

Can disco help you save someone's life?

A fun PSA video by the American Heart Association is spreading the word about CPR in a seriously catchy way.

But despite the eyerolling, the kids answer correctly with the two vital steps for giving CPR.

And that's where the fun starts. 100 beats per minute. What exactly does that feel like?

Keeping "Stayin' Alive" in the back of your mind could just be the ticket to actually saving someone's life. Take a look:

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