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Subscribe to RSSFor years, there has been a debate about the proper way to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on someone whose heart has stopped. Current recommendations from the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association say for adults, perform 30 chest compressions then apply two breaths.
Here's a good illustration of the procedure: http://depts.washington.edu/learncpr/quickcpr.html
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There has also been a debate for years about whether the breaths are necessary. There are two reasons for the debate: One is that animal studies have shown that in the time it takes to perform the procedure, critical blood flow to the brain is interrupted. The second is that many people are reluctant to put their mouths on a stranger.
Two studies just out in the New England Journal of Medicine find that compression-only CPR is as good or better than using the breaths. One study used EMS workers throughout the United States, and the other used the 911-like service in Sweden.
Neither the Red Cross nor the Heart Association has changed its recommendations. An editorial in the journal says it is time to reconsider. And at its annual meeting in November, the Heart Association is doing just that-and if it changes, the Red Cross will likely follow.
Meanwhile, it is good to remember that any CPR is better than none, and classes are available at, among other places, local chapters of the Red Cross and the Heart Association. Many urge that anyone who can take one should do so.
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For anyone who would like to learn how to perform hands-only CPR, ProCPR.org has created a Facebook application at http://apps.facebook.com/hands_only_cpr
I had read about this awhile back. Check into it and see if one of the reasons for not doing the "breath" steps is because blood carries oxygen and there is a lot already in the blood. The chest compressions move the blood through the body carrying with it the much needed oxygen. I am not by any stretch a person with medical knowledge. This explanation might help people be a little more at ease about trying to help someone in distress.
Thank you for bringing this to the public attention. I have worked in the ER when someone is brought in without CPR started on the scene, and the outcome was always grim. I think people will be less hesitant to start to save lives.
I have been a certified Am Red Cross CPR/1st Aid Instructor since 1998. Several years ago we were retrained and program videos, instruction materials, and skills cards were revised to teach "CPR Compression" without the 2 breaths.
I thought this newscast was not accurate inferring that current methods for teaching the lay responder how to perform CPR was to do 30 compression and 2 rescue breaths. I also attended a webcast several years ago referrencing the studies that show compression were just as effective without the 2 rescue breaths. Therefore stating that the rules may change was a bit behind the times....at least for the lay responder. Sue
Great report as always by Robert Bazell. Thanks for keeping us informed!
-Cary
Hopefully this will encourage more people to jump in and preform CPR in critical situations.
I also encourage anyone with children or who is a caregiver to take a class on infant/child CPR. My husband and I took a "Save a Baby" class when I was pregnant with our first child, and it's nice to know what to do in an emergency.