Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or more commonly known as CPR is a procedure used in emergencies that combines chest compressions often with mouth-to-mouth artificial ventilation to physically sustain intact brain function until further advanced measures are taken to restore average blood circulation and breathing in the person who is in cardiac arrest.
It is a type of BLS, or Basic Life Support, which refers to a level of medical care that is given to victims of life-threatening illnesses, injuries, or mishaps until they can be provided the full care at a hospital.
CPR is a delicate and essential method. It is vital that you fully know the important things CPR entails because it can mean the life-or-death of a person in that situation. And so here are some quick things that can supplement your knowledge on CPR to better gain a grasp on it:
1. It is far more significant to administer chest compressions than mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Getting the blood circulating back in the brain is the most crucial part of CPR. Mouth-to-mouth used to be considered an indispensable part of CPR, and it was always alongside with chest compression. However, back in 2010, the American Heart Association released new protocols that do not recommend giving mouth-to-mouth when performing CPR.
This is because chest compression are mostly always sufficient enough to bring blood back to the brain, and taking time out to administer breaths can reduce the blood pressure immediately back to zero, back to square one.
2. Giving CPR can be exhausting.
Unless you are used to administering or is just really physically fit, CPR can be physically demanding over time for most people. You may find yourself getting tired and woozy, and it all depends on how long it takes for professional medical care to arrive at the scene. However, if there is another person available who is qualified to administer, take turns having a go.
3. The primary purpose of CPR isn't to restart the heart.
A common misconception about CPR is that it restarts a person's heart, but it isn't (however, there are times you will). That job is left to the AED (automated external defibrillator), so do not expect them to wake and recover suddenly. The main goal of CPR is to keep blood flowing to the brain and other organs until an AED becomes available or medical professional care arrives.
4. Anyone can learn CPR.
You might think CPR is hard, and only professionals are genuinely qualified to do it. However, training for it is easy, and anyone can do it. Usually, a common factor among survivors of cardiac arrest is that a qualified bystander performed CPR until professionals arrived. Learning CPR can make you feel more pushed to help in an emergency where it is needed.
5. Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can be used by anybody.
Using an AED is simple; it even tells you what to do! It is used to deliver an electric shock to the heart, and the sooner it is given, the higher the chance of restarting the heart to rid of irregular cardiac arrhythmias. It will analyze the situation of the heart and will only deliver the shock when it is deemed needed.
Hopefully, you learned something new among these five quick things about CPR, and that it has further supplemented your knowledge on the subject. After this, if you want to hone and practice your CPR skills or you want to learn CPR, take one of our many classes!
Call CPR Associates, Inc. at (773) 973-6933.