Are You Aware Of The New CPR Guidelines?
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In the past several months the American Heart Association and other medical organizations, such as the American Red Cross have suggested a change in the way that CPR is performed. The new CPR guidelines call for the use of hands-only. The rescuer no longer has to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. We'll review these new CPR guidelines below.
The medical community has found out that original CPR guidelines that call for compression and breaths can confuse and intimidate potential rescuers. They found that people were hesitant to perform CPR because they were afraid that they'd "get it wrong" and do more harm than good. People were also afraid to put their mouth on the mouth of a stranger. Researchers also found out was that it could take up to a full 16 seconds for a person to give two rescue breaths and return to chest compressions, valuable wasted time.
Emergency personnel have documented over years victims of cardiac arrest actually "waking up" while chest compressions are performed only to lose consciousness again when breaths were given. This showed how valuable keeping the oxygenated blood flowing is. Death and brain damage occur when the brain is starved for oxygen. It is believed that the rate of survival can potentially double using the new CPR guidelines for hands-only CPR.
The new CPR guidelines are only for adults, and are not to be used on children or on drowning victims. Drowning victims will still need breaths given.
The new guidelines call for chest compressions to be done at a rate of 100 per minute. They also call for the chest to be compressed a full 1 1/2 to 2 inches. The hands are still used in the same fashion, with the heel of the hand placed in the center of the chest between the nipples. The other hand is then placed on top and the fingers interlaced. Medical professionals say you should "push hard and push fast" and don't worry about hurting the victim. It's estimated that about one third of cardiac arrest victims that receive CPR have ribs cracked or broken.
It is estimated that over 300,000 Americans die each year from sudden cardiac arrest. A study using hands-only CPR has shown an increase in survival rise from 10% to 30%. This is an amazing statistic and shows the importance of everyone learning the new CPR guidelines.
Today more and more public areas, such as airports have made automatic external defibrillators (AED's) available for use. AED's also greatly increase the chance of survival. An AED should be used only after one minute of unsuccessful hands-only CPR.
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