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Who is not allowed to take a first aid and or CPR course?

I was wondering if there were any restrictions to taking a first aid or CPR course.
Like, is there an age restriction, pregnant women, etc;

Public Comments

1. Generally anyone can take the classes. They can be modified for different age groups. It's usually up to the teacher though.
The classes are fine for pregnant people.

2. No anyone can take a course in CPR even people who are not classed as first aiders can give CPR, even if you were pregnant you could learn how to give CPR because you are not likely to be pregnant forever!

What they don't tell you is that you have to be very very careful when deciding to do CPR or any first aid on anyone because even if you save them they can sue you for breaking a rib, brain damage or in the case of a DNR (do not resuscitate) It is so risky to actually put yourself out there and help people because they can and will sue you as horrible as it sounds.

I have never been in a non medical situation where I have had to resuscitate someone and I am under no insurance, I'm sure if I was in that situation I to would set all aftermath to one side and help someone who may be fighting for life. This of course includes all kinds of first aid. Its always a good thing to know you can, if you need to. Also if you are a pregnant woman I would encourage you to take a first aid course in infants for your own peace of mind

the "good Samaritans act" will not stand up in court along with the "withholding care" if you are in a predicament of giving CPR its uneasy ground, the good samaritans act (Does not apply in the UK) can be cause for a lawsuit and so can the withholding care if you are first aid trained

Victoria is right she has performed CPR with patients but while she is in the work place she is insured on the street its a different story

3. I think the age is 16. It might depend on the state. and idk about being pregnant. can't you wait until after you pop the baby out?

4. Lisa Holt is totally correct.

Hovis is a little wrong.
"What they don't tell you is that you have to be very very careful when deciding to do CPR or any first aid on anyone because even if you save them they can sue you for breaking a rib, brain damage or in the case of a DNR (do not resuscitate) It is so risky to actually put yourself out there and help people because they can and will sue you as horrible as it sounds."

This is not true. You are protected by the Good Samaritan Law which means that if you act in good faith, you cannot be sued. Well, some moron may try to sue you, but there has NEVER been a successful lawsuit against someone who performed CPR. Breaking ribs is common during CPR. I've performed CPR more times than I can remember and ribs have been broken and more than half of my patients. If they approach a lawyer to try to sue you for broken ribs, I can't imagine the lawyer would even entertain that idea. They'd have to be a complete idiot to do so. You, being a good samaritan, do not have to honor DNRs, but if the family tells you to stop, then common sense would say you should stop. So here's the thing:
You will not get sued if you try to perform CPR in good faith.
You probably will get sued if you try to cut a hole in someones neck and shove a pen in it so they can breathe.

The thing with CPR is some CPR is better than no CPR. Even bad CPR is better than no CPR. If you do nothing, the person will absolutely die. If you try CPR, you're giving them the best chance to survive. And no, you do not need to be trained in CPR to perform it. Per AHA recommendations, all you have to do is call 911 and push hard and fast in the center of the chest. Don't worry about breathing for them and don't worry about checking a pulse. Just do compressions until the person wakes up (if they're truly in cardiac arrest, this probably won't happen), you get too tired to keep going, or someone else takes over.