Today I went to do CPR training with the American Red Cross as a requirement to renew my teaching credential.

I was concerned to see that in the opening section of their training manual, they state that people who are HIV + should request a separate training manakin.

Why do they ask this? HIV is not passed through saliva as far as I know.

Secondly, if I face a situation where I might need to deliver CPR, should I? Do good samaritan laws protect HIV + people delivering the procedure?

Thanks!

Quite frankly, I'm horrified. I had never heard of such a thing before. I do not have access to a Red Cross training manual, but their website does mention that there is no evidence that diseases have been transmitted through using manikins for CPR training. Trainers are required to procede with infection control measures when instructing CPR courses (Red Cross Policy ). However, this seems to totally contradict your experience; what a horrible position to put an HIV infected person in!

The odds of transmitting HIV through sharing a manikin, especially one that is disinfected between use, is too tiny to be of concern.

In terms of an HIV infected person's liability when delivering CPR, I'm not qualified to comment. The fact that HIV infected people have been charged with varying degrees of offenses for potentially exposing people to HIV makes this a complicated issue.

RMK