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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Moe
Posted 105 days ago
A noble effort, bit it's difficult to convince the public of the right way to do CPR when those that promulgate the procedure change it so often, and this procedure is contradictory to previous training. The result is a mixed up people; but I suppose doing something is better than doing nothing.
Shane
Posted 136 days ago
You're right it would be terrible to do the wrong procedure and do more harm than good. I have been cpr certified for years, but it looks like a have to learn the hands on method.
Mark Williams
Posted 137 days ago
This is some really good information to know. You feel bad enough thinking you are going to get it wrong when you perform CPR and then to actually get it wrong would just be horrible.
