You have seen it on TV before. A certain someone drops unconscious and then a person volunteers to administer cycles of compression on his chest and after a while, the ambulance arrives to take the victim away. It is good that this scene is shown on big screen where people can view CPR as a life-saving technique that can be done by anyone. How hard could it be when it is just pressing on the chest, right?
There is a chain of survival that indicates the key factors in helping a cardiac arrest victim survive. Immediate recognition of cardiac arrest and activation of the emergency response system is the first step. After that CPR should follow along with defibrillation. Soon after comes the advanced life support and integrated post-cardiac arrest. All of these factors come into play when a person suffers from cardiac arrest.
Unfortunately, numerous bystanders choose not to act when a victim experiences a sudden cardiac arrest. The longer an unconscious, pulseless victim is left unattended, the lower his chances of survival are. While waiting for professional help, CPR must be administered on the patient to prevent the delay of blood circulation on the brain.
Efforts have been made to encourage people to immediately react to situations like this. Partly, one reason why the American Heart Association changed the ABC to CAB approach is to encourage bystanders to give CPR if excretions in the mouth put them off. Unfortunately, the failure to recognize and act on a cardiac arrest victim remains a challenge even to this day. It is needless to say that there are numerous points on the chain of survival that should be given emphasis on. Bystanders should understand the role they play in saving someone’s life and that role is a bit on the major side.
There is also an emphasis given on the quality of CPR being administered on a cardiac arrest victim. Remember the TV scenario? Yes, most of the time they provide a good example of poor CPR. It is important to understand that chest compressions are the foundation of a good kind of CPR. There is a significant statistic that show a high number of people who either provide shallow depth or inadequate amount of CPR. Administering CPR can be physically draining, this is why it is better if there can be two providers who will do CPR.
Another challenge that needs to be addressed is the lengthy interruptions during administering of CPR. From a moment of doubt to the pausing during CPR, have significant impact on the survival rate of the victim. Even the minimal interruption to breathe into the victim after 30 cycles of compression affect the quality of CPR done. It is noteworthy to mention that manual CPR, provided in highest quality possible, provides 30-40% blood flow to the brain and 10-20% to the heart, meeting the minimal blood flow needed in those organs. Further developments on the issue of interruptions need to be addressed to maximize the potential of CPR.
Different studies are still underway to develop even better and effective way of giving high quality of CPR. These efforts are aimed to surpass the challenges mentioned above. Better yet, it is highly encouraged that everyone be well-aware of on how to administer CPR.
