Administering CPR is one of the most important first aid practices that should be learned by everyone who is healthy enough to do it. This is due to the possibility of cardiac arrest happening to anyone. It can happen anytime, anywhere.
Perhaps you have just seen the act done on TV of have heard of it somewhere and it spiked your interest. Knowing the basic information with regards to CPR can always be handy in times of crisis. Here are some of the frequently asked questions about it.
What is CPR?
CPR stands for Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation that involves sets of compression on the chest and breathing for a victim that has just had a cardiac arrest. When cardiac arrest happens outside the hospital, CPR is administered as a first aid and must be continued until professional help arrives.
Can CPR cause death?
CPR can save lives and no; it cannot cause death. A cardiac arrest victim has just suffered a sudden blackout of the heart, disrupting the blood flow to important vital organs such as the brain and the lungs. CPR helps replace the function of the heart by pounding on the chest with sets of compression that aims to continue the blood flow to these organs. Yes, he is not dead but he will soon be if not attended to. CPR cannot cause death and basically cardiac arrest victims are close to being clinically dead. The only way to increase their chances of survival is through CPR. The only thing that can cause death is if a bystander does not do anything at all.
What are the basics of CPR?
Before CPR’s first step is to ensure that the victim has a free airway, then the rescuer would breathe into the victim’s mouth then start doing compression. This method is the ABC approach. Recently, the American Heart Association (AHA) has changed this to CAB approach. Due to this, a rescuer has to start giving out compressions right away. The sets of compressions should be fast and deep, going to at least two inches of depth on the victim’s chest. After 30 sets of compression, breathe into the victim’s mouth twice, then get back to compressing the chest. This should be repeated with minimal interruptions until professional help arrives.
In which moments should I use ABC approach?
Now it is important to note that there are cases when the ABC approach must be done instead of CAB. For starters, newborn infants require this approach since the cause of cardiac arrest is most likely to be hypoxia or the deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues. This is why there should be emphasis given on the importance of supplying the breaths to increase the survival rate instead of sets of compression. Aside from this, patients that do not have pulse due to hypothermia or the lack of needed heat in the body requires CPR in ABC approach as well.
These are just some of the questions that most CPR-interested people ask. These pieces of information are critical and knowing them can make a difference; however, undergoing training for CPR can be better than just reading about the practice or watching online videos about it. An intensive CPR training will properly equip you with the much-needed skills for administering proper CPR.
