And now ... the answer to your final Jeopardy question is: "To save a life."

The question?

"Why should I learn CPR?"

According to Dean Keck, training coordinator for the Panhandle Health District and a lifesaver himself, "Suddenly you feel like you make a difference in the world. Saving someone's life just makes you feel great."

As a volunteer fireman/EMT, three years ago Keck was part of a team that successfully administered CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to an elderly woman who'd stopped breathing.

"The earlier you start chest compressions, the greater your chance of saving someone," he said.

Who knows CPR? How about hospital personnel, health club employees, flight attendants, child care providers, school bus drivers and moms and dads and grandparents, to name only a few.

According to the American Heart Association, nearly 383,000 out-of-hospital, sudden cardiac arrests occur annually. Eighty-eight percent of these arrests occur at home and they strike down the people we love.

The concept of CPR is far from new. As far back as 1740, the Paris Academy of Sciences officially recommended mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for drowning victims. In 1904, the first American closed-chest cardiac massage was performed and by the late 20th century, CPR had become a household word.

The goal of CPR is to maintain blood circulation when circulation has been seriously compromised by an erratic heart rhythm. Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when electrical impulses in the heart become rapid or chaotic.

"Ultimately, in the absence of circulation, the brain is starved for oxygen," said Dr. Harold Goldberg, a board-certified cardiologist at Providence Spokane Cardiology. "The ability to sustain circulation (CPR) will allow the opportunity for medics to arrive and create the potential for a good outcome where brain function can be preserved."

According to the National Institute of Health, when blood flow and/or normal breathing ceases, every moment counts. With permanent brain damage or death lurking just around the corner, immediate response is priceless - and necessary.

Anyone can learn CPR.

Yes, you read that right: anyone can learn CPR.

So, what does CPR look like? Well, for the most part, it doesn't look quite like the way they do it in the movies, where the movements are frequently too slow, too shallow and started only after the patient has already flatlined.

"If you come upon someone who's just collapsed, first call 911 and then immediately drop down and start doing chest compressions," Keck said. "You don't have to worry about giving mouth to mouth at this point, just do the compressions."

The American Heart Association advises you not to be afraid you'll do something wrong - just push hard and fast on the center of the chest. The recommended compression rate is 100 a minute and the depth per compression should be 1 1/2 to 2 inches. The goal is to get the existing oxygenated blood circulating as fast as you can.

If you've had CPR training, you are also qualified to clear an airway and do rescue breathing in addition to chest compressions.

"In CPR, you're compressing or squeezing the heart between the breastbone and the spine," said Mike Brynjestad, Kootenai County firefighter/paramedic and owner of cpr4work.com in Coeur d'Alene. "That movement ejects the blood out of the heart and sends a small amount of it around the body - specifically to the heart, lungs and brain. It will lengthen the time until possible death, which is estimated to be 10 minutes, but we're all different regarding the actual time.

"Nationwide, only about 5 percent of people who suffer a cardiac arrest survive it. When people do survive, it's rarely because of the paramedics' efforts alone. It's usually because a bystander, friend or neighbor has had the courage to attempt CPR in those first couple of minutes before help arrives."

In her long career as an emergency communications dispatch supervisor for Kootenai County, Carol Brown has talked several 911 callers step by step through CPR.

"If the caller tells us the person is not breathing, we ask them if they want to start CPR," Brown said. "Once we've gotten the address and the approximate age, we start reading the caller the medical instruction card we have (on CPR). I think doing CPR allows the caller to feel they've done everything they possibly could do to help."

The next rescue step after CPR is use of an AED (automated, external defibrillator), a machine that temporarily shocks the heart into stopping in the hope that this micro-pause will encourage the electrical system to reorganize itself back into a normal rhythm, thereby leading to the restoration of circulation.

In the past, these devices were used primarily by hospital and emergency medical personnel. Today they are frequently used by lay people as well. You can even purchase your own personal one with prices ranging from $900 to over $3,000.

Where will you find an AED these days? How about places like planes, trains, malls, airports, hospitals, community centers, skilled nursing facilities, daycare centers and utility trucks.

Utility trucks?

Avista Utilities began equipping their vehicles with AEDs more than a decade ago. According to Terry Bushnell, the company's senior director of human resources, "Our vehicles are in the field all the time and we feel that public access to a defibrillator is important. Our crews are proficient in both CPR and AED use - we're proud of our people being first responders."

It's Avista's hope that, should an emergency occur somewhere in the community near one of their vehicles, people will immediately think of their personnel and equipment as a close-by, life-saving resource.

Mike Brynjestad teaches a four-hour class in CPR, AED and first aid. "We train people to not be afraid of the AED," he said. "You can't make a mistake using it and I can promise you that you won't get shocked."

An AED will literally talk you through an emergency. All you need to do is follow the simple diagram for electrical pad placement and follow the instructions given by the recorded voice. You can't go wrong.

If you're curious to learn more about CPR/AED, you can start by watching a one-minute video at www.heart.org/cpr.

That one minute of your time might someday help save the life of someone you love.