No More Mouth-to-Mouth: The new way to do C P R (1140 hits)
November 28, 2013
Did you know that the guidelines for giving CPR have changed significantly in the past few years? Or that you can now get CPR training from a video? Since 2008, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has been promoting hands-only CPR, which means you focus on compressions and omit mouth-to-mouth altogether when doing CPR on an adult. November is CPR Month and we thought this would be a good time to ask an expert what we really need to know in case of an emergency. Dr. Andrew Travers, spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, answered all our questions.
What has changed in the last decade about the way you recommend doing CPR?
The CPR and ECC Guidelines are reviewed every five years and updated only when evidence is clear that changes will improve survival rates. The latest guidelines, from 2010, are based on input from 356 resuscitation experts from 29 countries.
The guidelines stress early recognition, urging people to call 911 or their local emergency number if they ever find someone collapsed and unresponsive, and not to delay by “looking, listening and feeling” for breathing or pulse. They also recommend that instead of trying to remember how many compressions and how many breaths, just push fast and push hard.
Think of the beat of the ’70s Bee Gees song “Stayin’ Alive” and that will give you an idea of how fast compressions should be done.
What steps should you follow in that situation?
If someone has collapsed and is unresponsive, you may be able to help save a life by calling 911 or your local emergency number, and performing CPR and using an AED if one is available.
If you are with an adult who has a cardiac arrest:
1. Tell someone to call 911 or your emergency response number and get an AED (if one is available). Or if you are alone, call 911 and get an AED yourself.
2. If the person isn’t breathing or is only gasping, give CPR.
3. Use an AED as soon as it arrives by turning it on and following the prompts.
4. Keep pushing until the person starts to breathe or move, or someone with more advanced training takes over.
Is there anything people commonly do wrong?
Many people hold back from doing CPR because they are afraid they may do it wrong or that they may hurt the person.
Currently, most victims of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest do not receive any bystander CPR. In 2010, the Heart and Stroke Foundation surveyed Canadians and found that while 62% of Canadians said they had taken a CPR class (though almost three-quarters reported that it was more than a year ago), just 40% said they would try to revive a person if they saw them having cardiac arrest.
We want to make it clear that technique is less important than doing chest compressions quickly and firmly. You can’t hurt the cardiac arrest victim if they don’t live to see another day, and without CPR, that is the likely outcome.
How likely is CPR to be successful?
Overall, the odds of surviving a cardiac arrest are almost four times greater if someone performs CPR right away. When CPR is combined with an automated external defibrillator (AED), the odds of survival can increase by as much as 75 percent, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Without CPR and defibrillation, fewer than five percent of people who have a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survive.
Who should get CPR training?
Anyone can suffer a cardiac arrest – and everyone should learn CPR.
Learning and reviewing CPR skills has been made much easier with an at-home video kit, the Heart and Stroke CPR AnytimeTM for Family and Friends.TM It teaches the basic skills of CPR in as little as 22 minutes. You can get it at www.heartandstroke.ca/CPRanytime .
