Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, commonly referred to as CPR consists of chest compression and ventilation to maintain circulatory flow and oxygenation during a cardiac arrest. This is one of the most vital first aids and that’s reason enough to know how to do it. Also, anyone can have cardiac arrest no matter the health conditions, as a matter of fact, there is nothing to do to predict the occurrence of this. No one wants to be pessimistic about this but most likely the people you have to administer a CPR on will be someone in your circle.
How do you recognize a patient that needs to receive a CPR? If a person is suddenly rendered unconscious and does not have a pulse, a CPR must be administered quickly. If this incident occurs inside the hospital, they can provide a more detailed analysis on what type of cardiac arrest occurred including additional treatment options.
CPR, in entirety comprises chest compression, airway and breathing. Unlike what others believe in, delivering CPR on a mattress or other soft material is less effective. Instead, the patient has to be laid in a supine position on a hard surface while the one to give compression is positioned high enough above the patient to achieve sufficient leverage. Using one’s body weight can be very helpful in giving adequate compression on the chest. Once the patient is properly positioned, check the patient’s mouth for possible foreign object that can block the airway.
Next, the CPR provider must place the heel of one hand on the patient’s sternum and the other hand on top if the first with your fingers interlaced. Extend your elbows and lean directly over the patient then press down, compressing the chest up to at least 2 inches deep. It is important to note that administering CPR on younger age bracket can have different standards and requirements. Then, a compression rate of at least 100 per minute must be continuously done until the patient is transferred to definitive care. This can be physically exhausting on the part of the provider so if someone else is also present that can substitute every now and then, that is also encouraged to have the CPR continually administered until help arrives. For untrained bystanders, chest compression-only CPR (COCPR) should be performed while keeping in mind the general concept of “push hard and fast”. CPR can be given with or without breathing and if one is opting for no ventilation, this must be compromised with high quality compression.
Just like what is mentioned above, CPR for the younger age bracket has some differences compared to adult CPR. Instead of using the entirety of your hands, you should use two to three fingers in the center of the chest on the lower half of the breast bone to compress about 1 ½ inches deep. Breathing in air through mouth to mouth are still indicated by chest rise, but there must be enough caution and less air must be used to achieve the same normal breathing in an infant.
The general public must be knowledgeable on the importance of CPR and how to properly administer it, in or out of the hospital. This is why training are conducted and everyone is highly encouraged to attend them.
