While heart disease is rising, CPR can save lives when performed correctly and promptly. The American Heart Association reports that more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurred in 2016. 88% of people who suffer from sudden cardiac arrest outside of the hospital die. However, CPR can improve a person's chance of survival.
What is CPR?
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is an emergency life-saving procedure performed when the heart and lungs have stopped functioning. CPR entails chest compressions and rescue breathing or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The chest compressions pump the blood around the body, and the rescue breathing will put oxygen in. CPR allows oxygen-rich blood to reach the brain and other organs, keeping the person alive for several minutes. CPR will not restart the heart, but the arrival of emergency medical services takes time to reach the scene. Providing effective CPR doubles the chances of survival of the cardiac arrest victim.
CPR is The Future of Rescue Training
A new method of CPR has been taught to first aid responders and the whole community of paramedics in Washington State. It's not a new style or a different way of performing it, but an immense emphasis on administering CPR immediately until you see signs of life. In this new update person performing CPR should keep giving effective compressions to the victim, at a compression rate of 100-120 compression per minute, without any pause in between the compression.
To elaborate further, this new way is a kind of Hands-Only CPR taught to these health care professionals. This speeds up the process of blood flow while the victim is unconscious, reducing the damage caused to the brain due to insufficient blood. They are naming it High-Performance CPR.
The Emergency Medical Team will now focus more on administering CPR rather than doing any other medical activity immediately after they'll reach the victim of cardiac arrest. EMS Medical Program Director Mr. Kevin Hodges said that "For every minute that goes by without CPR after a cardiac arrest, 10% of those people will die,"
High-Performance CPR
With this new methodology, CPR becomes the top priority activity to be performed on a cardiac arrest victim, eliminating all other activities like moving the patient into the ambulance, or putting them on a cot; even CPR has gained priority over the use of AED. Kennewick paramedical personnel Mr. Eric Nilson said, "We usually get out of the rig, everybody grabs the equipment, and we all go inside. The new focus is that as soon as they stop the vehicle, a person jumps off that rig and immediately runs to wherever the patient is, identifies the patient in cardiac arrest, and immediately starts CPR".
During statistical analysis, it's been found that CPR resuscitation with other methods involved during the first aid given to a victim of cardiopulmonary arrest only has a 15% success rate. While in the Kings County of Washington, with the implementation of High-Performance CPR, EMS teams have a success rate of 46 percent. This success rate is not the end of it. They plan to achieve a 75 percent success rate in the coming year, which is nearly impossible to believe.
This remarkable achievement rate has led other countries to adopt the same methodology if they detect the victim on the scene has a cardiopulmonary arrest. In addition, emergency medical service professionals are also trained in the quality of chest compression, compression rate per minute, and the depth of each compression as per the victim's weight to perform better while administering CPR.
Get CPR Certified
While compression-only CPR or hands-only CPR has positively affected the public attitude toward bystander involvement in cardiac arrest, CPR training programs must continue to evolve to influence the greatest number of people. The American Heart Association updated guidelines and recommendations for cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) reflect the continued simplification of initial CPR training and provisions for shorter, more frequent CPR training intervals.
Conclusion
CPR is an easy skill to learn, and everyone should know how to do it, even though you are not a healthcare providers or medical professionals. Unfortunately, according to the American Heart Association for Emergency Cardiovascular Care, 70% of Americans feel helpless to act in an out-of-hospital cardiac emergency because they either do not know how to administer CPR or their CPR certification has lapsed.
Learning CPR and basic life support skills can give people the confidence and ability to save a life. CPR certification classes equip you with the tools and confidence to transform from a bystander to a lifesaver. The Certification courses give you the necessary training to make the right decisions in the event of a medical emergency situation. In addition, you will learn how to perform CPR correctly and learn how to use an Automated External Defibrillator.
