What is CPR?
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, which is shortly referred to as CPR, is a life-saving technique performed under extreme emergency situations when a victim is unresponsive with no pulse and breathing. CPR is performed when a person experiences a sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack, or recovering breathing when drowned. CPR technique does not guarantee to bring back the victim’s heartbeat and breathing to normal, but it doubles the chances of resuscitation to the victim’s body.
What CPR does to the victim?
During cardiac arrest, heart attack and post drowning, the victim’s heart stops pumping. When the heart stops pumping, oxygen-rich blood flowing to the brain and other fundamental organs halts immediately. As a result, within a few minutes, the brain stops functioning and a victim faces death abruptly. CPR helps immediately revive the halted heart, thereby allowing oxygen-rich blood to flow into the brain and other vital organs until the victim reaches the hospital. That is how the CPR technique saves the life of cardiac arrest/heart attack victims.
How CPR should be done?
CPR technique is a combination of giving chest compression and artificial ventilation to the victim during an emergency. The CPR technique is very common for adults and children. The CPR technique should be done very meticulously for newborn infants as it may cause a life-threatening situation to the infants if done in excess. American Heart Association has clearly distinguished CPR providing persons into three types:
- Trained
- Untrained
- Trained but Skeptical
Trained
A person who has done certification in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is referred to as a Trained CPR Practitioner. These people have the confidence of providing CPR to the victim without any hesitation. If you are a trained CPR person, first check the presence of a heartbeat and breathing in the victim’s body. If there is no pulse or breathing for 10 seconds, you can start CPR with 30 chest compression before giving two rescue breaths.
Untrained
Suppose you are untrained in CPR and have to perform CPR in case of emergency, do not panic; take a deep breath and call emergency medical assistance. Then start giving uninterrupted chest compression of about 100 to 120 a minute until the ambulance arrives. You need not provide rescue breathing to the victim.
Trained but Skeptical
If you are trained in CPR but skeptical about performing CPR. Call the medical assistance and start 100 to 120 uninterrupted chest compression a minute. Since you are already trained, if you are comfortable with rescue breathing, provide artificial breathing as per the norms instructed during your certification.
How can we learn CPR?
If you intend to learn CPR properly, take an accredited first-aid training course in CPR and get trained how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) to become a professional in CPR technique.
Types of CPR
CPR has been categorized into three types based on adults, children, and infants. CPR resuscitation protocols may accordingly vary for adults, children and infants, depending on the victim's size.
- Adult CPR
Before commencing CPR to the adults, make sure to call the respective medical assistance immediately. Then place your hand at the center of the victim’s chest and give two hands-on CPR by pushing harder and faster by compressing the chest at least 2 inches. Try to provide 100–120 chest compression per minute and give two rescues breathing for every 50 compressions until the arrival of the ambulance.
- Child CPR
Child CPR, also known as Pediatric CPR, has different resuscitation protocols than adult CPR. Child CPR should be done to the child under the age of one to fifteen who weigh less than 120 pounds.
Similar to adult CPR, call the medical assistance before beginning CPR. Since a child’s airflow is more fragile than an adult's, try to be meticulous when you plan to give rescue breathing to the child. Provide chest compression using one or two hands, depending on the child's size. Make sure the depth of chest compression must be below one and a half inches.
- Infant CPR
Infant CPR is the most complex CPR technique, which should be done only by the certified CPR practitioner with extreme care. Do not immediately begin CPR on the infants; instead, make sure the infant is unconscious and call medical assistance.
American CPR association has suggested a few tips about infant CPR:
- CPR practitioners should use only two fingers for infants.
- Chest compression of about 30–40 per minute is allowed and compression should be about an inch and a half deep down the chest.
- When giving rescue breathing, a person is not allowed to use the full force of their lungs. For rescue breathing, they should slowly expel their air into the mouth of the infant. So that infant’s lung will not get damaged.
In Conclusion
This blog has clearly explained the importance of CPR and how it should be performed during emergencies. You can realize how CPR certification and CPR training is helpful for you so that they can save a human life without any hesitation in critical conditions.
