Dr. James Jude, recognized for his research in developing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), passed away on Tuesday, July 28.

Do you have the skills it takes to save a life? According to the American Heart Association, the majority of Americans don't know how to perform CPR -- or don’t know how to perform it correctly. 

CPR and First Aid are skills anyone can learn that can save lives in a matter of seconds.  When fifty-eight-year-old bus driver, Susan Lecrenski, encountered a student with a life-threatening allergic reaction, she used the skills she learned in First Aid to use an Epi Pen to save the student's life.  American Red-Cross honored Lecrenski as a Hometown Hero.

Almost everyone has seen CPR performed in a TV show and knows that it can save a life after heart attack, smoke inhalation, drowning, and other accidents. Unlike many other aspects of TV drama, the lifesaving potential of CPR is very real. While the process may not always be depicted 100% accurately, CPR does dramatically increase the chances of survival and can even bring someone back from death.

As we’ve already talked about, not enough bystanders have training in life-saving techniques such as CPR.