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New CPR advice: chest compressions only
The Columbus Dispatch ^ | March 31, 2008 | Suzanne Hoholik

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 victim’s chest until paramedics arrive.

This is an easier, less complicated way to aid a person with sudden cardiac arrest. You don’t 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 don’t do CPR for a variety of reasons, including that they’re not trained or they think they’ll break a rib. Then there’s the “yuck factor” of putting their mouth on a stranger’s.

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 it’s OK for them to help even if they’ve never been trained,” said Dr. Michael Sayre, an emergency-room physician at Ohio State University Medical Center and chairman of the heart association’s committee writing the recommendations.

If you’re alone when someone collapses, he said, compress the victim’s 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 person’s chance of surviving.

“So, if people are even doing that, they’re 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 association’s 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


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: cardiacarrest; compressions; cpr; firstresponders; health; heart; rescue
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To: buccaneer81

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.


21 posted on 03/31/2008 2:00:07 PM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: buccaneer81

In most states, anybody who uses an AED is protected from liability, regardless of whether they are certified.


22 posted on 03/31/2008 2:00:33 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: buccaneer81

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.


23 posted on 03/31/2008 2:03:07 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: Resolute Conservative

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.


24 posted on 03/31/2008 2:04:08 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: Resolute Conservative
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.

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 ;-)

25 posted on 03/31/2008 2:06:11 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: GovernmentShrinker

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 ).


26 posted on 03/31/2008 2:07:46 PM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: GovernmentShrinker

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.


27 posted on 03/31/2008 2:12:35 PM PDT by Judith Anne (I have no idea what to put here. Not a clue.)
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To: Resolute Conservative
Sensitivity training was the same ball of crap that I successfully dodged for 3 years

Ours is "diversity" training, and I wish I could dodge it. Everyone goes...or else.

28 posted on 03/31/2008 2:12:57 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: buccaneer81

Shouldn’t that just be called CR instead of CPR?


29 posted on 03/31/2008 2:15:31 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th
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To: Judith Anne

Glad you added that. Minor detail, huh?


30 posted on 03/31/2008 2:16:55 PM PDT by ncpatriot
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To: ncpatriot

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?


31 posted on 03/31/2008 2:20:04 PM PDT by Judith Anne (I have no idea what to put here. Not a clue.)
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To: buccaneer81
I'm not sure newspaper articles are the best place to learn emergency medical procedures.

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.

32 posted on 03/31/2008 2:22:54 PM PDT by billorites (Freepo ergo sum)
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I'm on it!
33 posted on 03/31/2008 2:26:21 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (Satisfaction was my sin)
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To: HamiltonJay
Doing chest compressions immediately will double or triple a person’s chance of surviving

The article seems to indicate it will greatly increase one's chances of surviving.

34 posted on 03/31/2008 2:27:30 PM PDT by dawn53
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To: billorites
For starters, you don't do CPR on someone with a pulse. People can collapse for a variety of reasons.

Without a doubt, the article (and the MD being quoted) should have emphasized Rule #1: Check for signs of life.

35 posted on 03/31/2008 2:28:20 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: buccaneer81

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.


36 posted on 03/31/2008 2:32:46 PM PDT by Yollopoliuhqui
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To: buccaneer81

do the compressions to the beat of “another one bites the dust”


37 posted on 03/31/2008 2:33:47 PM PDT by pitinkie (revenge will be sweet)
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To: RightWhale
I forget the ratio of chest compressions to lung inflations.

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)

38 posted on 03/31/2008 2:34:48 PM PDT by VRWCmember
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy
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.

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.)

39 posted on 03/31/2008 2:42:33 PM PDT by VRWCmember
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To: The Great RJ
I probably did CPR close to 100 times in my ambulance days

Just curious -- did it save any lives? From the posts above yours it looks like the odds aren't good.

40 posted on 03/31/2008 2:43:11 PM PDT by scan59 (Let consumers dictate market policies. Government just gets in the way.)
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