Public Service Announcement - a new form of CPR

[andrewducker]

(via stattus_quo)

Comments

[mirukux.livejournal.com]

an overview of the science behind it

[alienspacebat.livejournal.com]

As a trained first aid instructor, I'd make a few comments

1 - The CPR they are performing is terrible. There arms are not vertical and they have full hands on the chest (fingers should be linked and curled up). Effectively, they are applying a twisting motion and added pressure on the ribs which is very likely to break them. I'm very surprised to see such poor technique from doctors

2 - Compression only is fine for some causes of heart attack but not others. In a sudden cardiac arrest its fine. You have between 5-10 minutes of oxygen left and for every minute without a defibrillator your chance of survival drops 8-10%. Hence you really want an ambulance to arrive within the 8 minute target and an AED nearby. Ventilations will help towards the end of that cycle but have less effect at the start given the oxygen in your bloodstream.

3 - The pressure to the head is a bit simplistic. Otherwise if you keep pumping, does their head explode? I'd be surprised if some people were not put off

4 - Compression only decreases the quality of cpr over time due to tiredness. It does however increase compliance as many people are reluctant to take any steps if the casualty has regurgitated their stomach contents and they dont realise compressions alone may be affected. When trained rescuers perform CPR, various other techniques may be used because they are more effective although what the public are told is often simplified to build confidence

5 - Note that compression only is a break away by the American Heart Association on the international resuscitation committee and other organisations positions (e.g. the Red Cross). The topic is to be discussed at ILCOR 2010. Papers are here: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3060097

The important thing is that people actually give CPR a go. The actual technique matters less than actually trying in the first place which is the biggest issue of all.