So here’s an excellent, upbeat story about a young girl saving her friend’s life.

What’s this got to do with self-defense? Glad you asked!

First, self defense isn’t just about guns. It’s about mindset — the mindset that says, life is good and worth protecting. When you believe life is worth protecting, you become willing to learn what you need to learn in order to do that. Whether it’s something as simple as basic first aid or CPR, or something more complex like how to be a lifeguard or put out a fire or use a firearm to save lives during a criminal event, just a little bit of knowledge goes a long way in helping you keep yourself and others safe.

Second, calling 9-1-1 can save lives. But NOT immediately! It takes time to find the phone and dial it, time to explain the situation, time for the responders to get in the rig and leave the station, time for them to find your location. If this child hadn’t started CPR right away, a lot more time would have passed before any oxygen got to her friend’s brain. And the outcome would very likely not have been nearly so upbeat and positive.

Because it takes time for others to get to the scene, calling 9-1-1 should never, ever take the place of immediate action. It should only supplement that action, as we see here, with one person calling, and another taking physical action. Both things were needed in order to save the drowning child’s life.

Finally, when you know what to do, you can be a lot calmer when trouble strikes than when you don’t. If you’re serious about being able to protect yourself and the people you love, that’s a big deal.