CPR Works Best with More Compressions
May 12, 2009 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Announcements, First Aid, How To
How long ago did you first start learning CPR?
Were your CPR instructors strict about the number of compressions and breathes to do? Did they stress the need for ‘x’ number of compressions followed by ‘x’ number of breathes? Did you have trouble finding the carotid pulse? Difficulty getting the breathes in?
Well, you can relax. Things have really changed since the early days of CPR training.
Why?
Well, it turns out that the frequent stopping to breath air into the victim isn’t actually best action. Research has shown that even a second of pausing in compressions can cause a 1% reduction in the likelihood of getting the heartbeat to return.
So if you haven’t updated your CPR knowledge lately, it might be time to do so.
Start by checking out the new first aid guidelines that the American Heart Association put out last year. Based on the research over the past few years, they are now suggesting that the ‘mouth to mouth’ part of CPR is unnecessary.
In fact, they have moved to a ‘hands-only’ CPR technique for bystanders which focuses on two steps involving calling 911 (in US) and then pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest.
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But instead of just reading the guidelines put out by the American Heart Foundation, now would be a good time to update your knowledge with a CPR/First Aid course.
You can find a CPR class near you using the American Heart Foundation’s ECC Class Connector which lists all the CPR, First Aid, AED and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) classes in the United States.
Don’t know how fast to press? They’ve determined that pressing to the beat of “Staying Alive” (Bee-Gees) is the perfect speed.
This kind of cpr training is actually pretty easy to pick up, especially the hands only.