Posted on 03/31/2008 1:31:01 PM PDT by buccaneer81
New CPR advice: chest compressions only Heart Association hopes simpler guidelines save lives Monday, March 31, 2008 4:00 PM By Suzanne Hoholik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Hands-only CPR
When you see an adult collapse:
* 1. Call 9-1-1. * 2. Start hard, fast compressions at the center of the chest. Trade off with someone if you get tired. If no one else is around, continue compressions until paramedics arrive.
In an effort to get more bystanders to perform CPR, the American Heart Association issued new guidelines today changing the way it teaches the lifesaving technique by eliminating mouth-to-mouth breaths.
When an adult collapses, bystanders are to call 9-1-1, then start hard, fast compressions at the center of a victims chest until paramedics arrive.
This is an easier, less complicated way to aid a person with sudden cardiac arrest. You dont have to remember all the steps of traditional CPR checking the airway, tilting the head, remembering the number of compressions to alternate with the number of breaths.
People dont do CPR for a variety of reasons, including that theyre not trained or they think theyll break a rib. Then theres the yuck factor of putting their mouth on a strangers.
Experts found that pumping the heart is the most important piece to help the victim, and they want bystanders to do it.
We want people to know we think its OK for them to help even if theyve never been trained, said Dr. Michael Sayre, an emergency-room physician at Ohio State University Medical Center and chairman of the heart associations committee writing the recommendations.
If youre alone when someone collapses, he said, compress the victims chest until EMS arrives, even if you get tired. If someone else is around, after a couple minutes they can trade off, Sayre said.
In Columbus, he said, only about one-quarter of the people who collapse from sudden cardiac arrest get CPR. Doing chest compressions immediately will double or triple a persons chance of surviving.
So, if people are even doing that, theyre doing the most important part, said Capt. Dave Roggenkamp, a paramedic with the Columbus Division of Fire.
After Arizona paramedics began using compressions-only CPR, the survival rates tripled for adults suffering sudden cardiac arrest, according to results published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The heart associations new guidelines should not be used on infants, children or adults whose cardiac arrest is from respiratory causes such as a drug overdose or near-drowning.
shoholik@dispatch.com
Recertification is a scam to create jobs. The 5-1 or 15-2 method I learned 20 years ago is still viable and taking people out of their job every year for and 8 hour class is crap.
In most states, anybody who uses an AED is protected from liability, regardless of whether they are certified.
I’m not so sure about this advice, but there are a lot of variables.
1) A lot of people faint, often after choking, so their heart is not the issue. At a minimum you have to check their airway first.
2) This advice may be for a particular kind of heart failure in which all the blood has been pumped out of the heart, but not replaced. Chest compression is needed to get blood back into the heart, because they have something like vapor lock in an old car.
3) For those with a pulse, but who are not breathing, it was found that the “four quick breaths” started most of them up immediately.
4) Portable defibrillators only work if they are charged and maintained regularly. They cannot be ignored for an extended period like a fire extinguisher.
I’m sure there are a bunch of other variables to consider, and expect the professionals will be arguing about this for some time.
The classes have gotten a lot shorter. I took AED-CPR for the first time last year, and the class was either 2 or 3 hours.
We have our own in-house medical staff, so we keep it all in the family. You're right about wasting time. But as an all day training session we get the free catered lunch, and a day's respite from the usual BS. If not necessary for the heart, it is a fine mental health day for most of us ;-)
When I worked in state gov ( LEO ) we had to take a class every year and it basically killed an entire day for every employee, plus travel time and expense, to hear the same spiel every year.
Sensitivity training was the same ball of crap that I successfully dodged for 3 years until I decided to quit before I had to take it ( not why I quit ).
Good posts. I’m a certified CPR/AED instructor at present, and the only thing I would add is, please don’t do chest compressions until you check if the victim is breathing or has a pulse.
If they are breathing and have a pulse, chest compressions could be very dangerous.
Ours is "diversity" training, and I wish I could dodge it. Everyone goes...or else.
Shouldn’t that just be called CR instead of CPR?
Glad you added that. Minor detail, huh?
I know. I saw that, and I thought, “Things that make you go ‘hmmmmmmmm.’”
The other thing is, people who collapse from choking—should get the Heimlich instead of chest compressions...
Oh well. According to some, the training is a waste. Why bother?
For starters, you don't do CPR on someone with a pulse. People can collapse for a variety of reasons.
CPR, in any form, is for people without a detectable pulse.
Yes the recommendations change frequently. There's no substitute for the Red Cross program designed to teach proper one and two person CPR for adults and children. The best thing about such courses is the opportunity to practice proper technique and get feedback from a competent instructor.
The article seems to indicate it will greatly increase one's chances of surviving.
Without a doubt, the article (and the MD being quoted) should have emphasized Rule #1: Check for signs of life.
As far as the “ick” factor goes in doing mouth to mouth, just put a handkerchief over the victim’s mouth. Get a bystander to do the mouth to mouth while you do chest compression. In drowning cases, CPR can be effective but can take time to get revival. I find it easier to find the radial (wrist) pulse than the carotid (neck) pulse. Yes, make certain there is no pulse.
do the compressions to the beat of “another one bites the dust”
If performing CPR with a partner (i.e. one person doing chest compressions and one person doing the assisted breathing) it is 5 to 1.
If performing CPR alone, it is 15 to 2. (15 compressions, then 2 quick breaths, then back to the compressions)
Im sure there are a bunch of other variables to consider, and expect the professionals will be arguing about this for some time.
Great points. People should always follow the ABC's before even considering starting any type of recussitation efforts.
A - Airway: Check the Airway for obstruction
B - Breathing: Check to see if the person is Breathing
C - Circulation: Check Circulation.
Clearing the airway in the case of someone who has passed out from choking will often allow the person to resume breathing with no further effort. (It is possible that attempting chest compressions would also dislodge an obstruction by accident, but a deliberate measure of checking for obstructions and ensuring a clear airway would be better.)
Just curious -- did it save any lives? From the posts above yours it looks like the odds aren't good.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.