In the past, cardio pulmonary resuscitation always involved two breaths and 15 chest compression. Back then, it was believed that artificial respiration would be able to give the person a better chance at surviving since there would still be oxygen going in and out of his lungs. Recent studies, however, have proven that this is not the case.
Until last October 2010, many believe that saving the life of an unconscious person is best done if the A-B-C is followed. That means, a responder would have to do check the airway and make sure that there are no obstructions, check if the person is breathing and, if not, administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation; and then, do chest compressions. What most professionals have observed that the time lapse between the steps does have an impact on how high the chances for survival of the patient is. How is this so? What professionals have notice is that, with every minute that blood circulation is not restored, the danger for tissue necrosis increases. You have to keep in mind that once tissue necrosis sets in, the affected vital organ might not function properly even if breathing is restored. This could, later on, pose a risk to the patient’s life. You also have to remember that in a span of 6 minutes, a person’s brain can die if circulation is not restored. Bearing that observation in mind, the American Heart Association has deemed that the typical A-B-C process when it comes to saving a person’s life might just be in need of a “revamp”.
What once was an ABC is now what is known as C-A-B, Chest Compression – Airway – Breathing. In the new procedure, the focus is more on the chest compressions. Most medical professionals now recommend this process since it allows the blood to circulate which can help feed the vital organs with the needed oxygen.
Generally, paramedics and first responders would administer about 12 minutes of chest compression to patients suffering from cardiac arrest. A recent Lancet study, however, suggests that doing chest compressions for as long as 30 minutes could actually increase the chances of the patient surviving the ordeal. In the said study, it was found out that, although most of those who were revived using chest compressions were able to do so in a short span of time, there were a few who took a longer time before a pulse was felt with most of them actually needing 30 minutes before the heart was revived and was able to pump blood on its own. One place where this can be observed is in the hospital where longer time for chest compressions are typically encouraged. Observations have shown that patients who had to undergo CPR for a far longer time did not show any neurological problem and were, in fact, mostly discharged earlier than the rest.
Regardless of the result of the study, however, most doctors and medical professionals maintain that the length of time allowed for doing the chest compression would generally depend on the kind of situation the patient is in.
Learn more about how CPR is administered by undergoing CPR training and certification. Who knows, you might just save a life.
