An innovative CPR mattress
July 11, 2009 by Liz Lewis
Filed under First Aid, Heart Health, Medicine
Hospital mattresses are soft and pliable. Great for the patient who wants to be comfortable. But not so great for medical staff if they have to perform CPR.
Performing compressions on someone lying in a soft and pliable mattress will only result in the force going into the mattress and not the body. The standard answer is to get the patient on a crash board first but that requires extra time to roll the patient and position the board. Extra time that is often critical.
But a group of innovative students at Michigan Tech may just have the answer. They have been …read more
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 …read more
