Last night I got my CPR skills brushed up. The first time I'd learned it had been Red Cross and it's been a while. This time it was the American Heart Association. A few things have changed, but it came back pretty quickly. The only annoying thing was trying to use the breathing mask with the dummy. It was tough to get a good seal, and made it awkward to switch between chest compressions and rescue breaths. Straight on mouth-to-mouth was easier.

The really neat part was discovering exactly how easy to AED is to use. The equipment itself is well labeled, and the computerized voice talks you through the steps. It will even talk you through CPR if you want it to. It made me very glad that AEDs are becomming a common public feature. The trick will be getting people to think to use them, rather than panicking helplessly.