If you have already passed your CPR certification test, you may be wondering why you should recertify? Apart from the fact that your certification only covers a certain length of time, up to two years with some providers, your knowledge levels wont last this long. Also things change.

The American Heart Association is always looking at ways to improve the currently appalling statistics. With only 8% of those who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest away from hospital surviving, they know they have a long way to go. A significant change in guidelines was announced in October 2010. You will have learnt the old method. There is no formal requirement for you to learn the new one until your current certification runs out but you may want to educate yourself about the changes. Most people have welcomed the changes as they should making performing CPR much easier.

So if you don’t need to learn the new guidelines why should you brush up your knowledge? Statistics show that we very quickly forget the skills we have learnt. While the chances of you needing your first aid knowledge are thankfully quite low, this isn’t an excuse for not keeping your finger on the pulse. You never know when someone nearby may have a sudden cardiac arrest and given you took the time to become CPR certified at some point in time, you obviously would like to help people if you can.

The average retention time after learning a new skill is less than a year. Studies showed that those who passed their courses had forgotten almost all of what they studied within twelve months. Some had forgotten after only eight weeks. So what can you do to keep your skills updated? Home study will help. Watch a quick CPR training video or DVD to remind yourself of the key points every once and a while. You can find a lot of material online but be careful what sites you trust. There are some providers who will charge you to take a recertification exam but you will find that your new qualification is worthless.

You could consider attending a refresher course. You will find these offered by the American Red Cross or American Heart Association. You could organise one at your workplace, attend a local college or study online. Some employers require you to hold a valid certificate and if you fail to recertify you could put your job at risk. If this is the case in your company, your employer should be willing to give you time off to attend a class.