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
Three things is a lot to remember./sarc
In her case I would proceed immediately to vigorous chest massage, with mouth-to-mouth as needed. The procedure might need to be repeated several times even if the victim appears to have regained consciousness.
Most if not all states have good samaritan laws. If you are not medically trained and you are making an effort to help, your liability is nil
However, if you are a medical professional and try to help, you may still be liable.
Three weeks ago I had a heart attack on an American Airlines flight. I was technically dead, not breathing and no pulse(7-10 minutes). The air crew along with several passengers saved my life, I was given CPR and a flight attendant used a AED to shock my heart back. The pilots made an emergency landing in Dallas and I was taken immediately to Baylor Medical center where I had a stint put in the blocked artery. If I had been anywhere else there is a good chance I would not have survived.
I am 53, did not have high blood pressure, never had high cholesterol, and passed a stress test several years ago. I go the the gym and work out including biking, lifting weights and swimming...I would never get winded.
The good news is that I had no visible damage to my heart and all heart artery’s are clear.
Glad to hear you’re doing well. You’re very lucky.
I certified last week.
We were taught two one-second rescue breaths, then 30 chest compressions in 18 seconds.
98% of the time, when you stop breathing, your heart follows suit ASAP.
Probably why, for adults getting a Girl Scouts First Aid Certificate, you have to be re-certified in CPR every two years, even though the regular 'First Aid' card is good for three. I've been certified twice, and each time was slightly different in the numbers of breaths, vs. compressions per minute.
The woman doing the training the first time I certified used the expression, "You can fix broken bones, you can't fix dead."
Could be ironic, but would keep you going a the right rate!
Yowsers! Did they figure out what precipitated the heart attack?
LOL thats what AHA says to use!
Yes, Blood Clot in Left circumflex artery. I actually do not remember anything that happened on the plane. I had the heart attack about 20 minutes after the plane took off. I only know what happened because the flight attendants came by the hospital to visit me and I was able to speak to the guy who was sitting next to me on the flight. I wrote a note to myself on the flight that I found in my notebook after I was released from the hospital...I was in great pain and was hoping a doctor was on the flight.
Here’s the bottom line, and I do mean bottom line:
Someone with no breathing and no heartbeat is dead.
If it’s soon enough, you may be able to change that, and they may survive. Doing nothing will leave them dead. They only have one chance: the people around them willing to try CPR.
That could be you. I recommend the training, even if you think you’ll never use it, even though there’s an “ick” factor, even though it doesn’t always help.
If you think you already know CPR, and don’t need a refresher, you might be surprised. If it’s a waste of time, well then, feh!
But if somebody drops dead beside you, don’t just stand there, DO SOMETHING! Possibly, you may save a life. That would make you a hero. And a good person.
Just my opinion.
It was my understanding from when I was certified that, at least in NY, the liability shilding of the good samaritan laws was extended only to those who were currently certified. It may be a misunderstanding on my part, but that is the root of my post.
Thanks for responding.
I remember the old 15:2 pace for one man, 5:1 for two man CPR.
Great to hear a fabulous emergency medical success. Cheers!
Here’s the facts... from Training just delivered last night by a certified instructor who is also a first responder for my city in case of any sort of emergency.
Standard CPR has about a 1 in 10,000 chance of reviving a victim, and a good bit of those that do survive have brain damage. AED’s are much greater, and compressions until the AED arrives I am sure help.. but using only traditional CPR your likelyhood of reviving someone is incredibly slim.
The rationale is that the brain will survive long enough for either EMS to arrive (assuming somebody has the presence of mind to call 911) or an AED arrives.
The emphasis is now on early defibrillation.
Realisticaly, if you were to fall down right in front of me in the mall from a sudden-death heart attack, your chances of survival are a little more than fifty-fifty. I know that sounds crappy, but considering that before the advent of CPR the chances were zero, fifty-fifty is a helluva lot better, don'cha think?
But with the advent of AEDs, the survival rate leaps up to 70 percent- IF we can zap you within minutes of your heart crapping out on you.
AEDs save lives. No doubt about it.
The popping you feel is not necessarily from breaking a rib- on a younger person it may simply be cartilage that's doing the Rice Krispy snap crackle and pop. On an elderly person, well, yeah, that's probably a rib or two. But KEEP GOING. We can fix the ribs.
(I did CPR on a 95-year-old woman whose family refused to let her go. Now that was just icky.)
And remember everybody: BAD CPR is better than NO CPR. Get it?
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