Posted October 8, 2010 - 7:29am by Tracy
Skipping mouth-to-mouth is best CPR practice for lay people
CPR without mouth-to-mouth breathing — called compression-only CPR — is the best practice for non-clinical people assisting someone in need of resuscitation, according to recent studies, including a Journal of the American Medical Association study released this week.
As detailed in a recent Chicago Tribune article, these findings, along with finding from several other recent research studies, have prompted the American Heart Association (AHA) to change the official guidelines for CPR, which have long been for both clinical and lay people to perform mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions.
Although AHA standards have long maintained, and continue to maintain, that the combination of compressions and supplying oxygen is best for the victim, the studies found that positive outcomes were reduced because laypeople hesitated to perform both actions when attempting to resuscitate a victim.
Eileen Wright, a registered nurse, education coordinator and CPR instructor at Swedish Covenant Hospital, blames what many instructors refer to as the “cootie” factor.
“Administering CPR with mouth-to-mouth is the best way to help a victim, but many people do not want to put their lips on a stranger, or do not know how to do it properly,” Wright said. “For this reason, compression-only CPR is useful because it enables people to do something — rather than nothing — to help a victim.”
Compression-only CPR can improve a victim’s odds of survival by as much as 60 percent. However, survival rates are still only 15 percent for the 300,000 Americans who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year.
Wright attributes this to general lack of knowledge about what to do if someone collapses, is struggling to breathe or is choking.
“Brain death starts in less than four minutes,” Wright said. “Take a CPR or basic life support class and give yourself the opportunity to save a life.”
Swedish Covenant Hospital offers regular “Family and Friends” CPR courses where participants learn compression-only CPR techniques.
Comments (1)
There is also a cool website from the American Heart Association that is geared toward teens: www.bethebeat.heart.org. It teaches kids about hands-only CPR as well as how to use an AED with music videos and other interactive tools, and kids can log in to earn prizes as they educate themselves.
October 14, 2010 - 1:45pm