Emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation is needed for various sudden conditions, in particular, this is the first aid for circulatory arrest. The cause of circulatory arrest can be various circumstances, both heart diseases and accidents. Circulatory arrest leads to a disruption in the supply of oxygen to all organ systems, and, as you know, all cells of the body simply die without oxygen. For this reason, assistance must be provided in a timely, correctly and fast. With every second of delay, the chances of saving the victim decrease. Therefore, if you are a witness to a situation in which a person’s heart stops and breathing stops, you should know how to behave and what to do, because in your hands is a person’s life!
Here are some important advices developed from the latest recommendations:
1. No more than 10 seconds are allotted for the diagnosis of cardiac arrest (circulation) and breathing! A few simple facts indicating that it’s time to move on to active resuscitation:
• Complete lack of consciousness in the victim.
• The person is not breathing or is not breathing properly.
• No pulse.
After the fact of circulatory arrest is precisely established, the victim is placed on a flat surface (preferably hard) in a supine position. The legs should be slightly raised and placed on a raised platform (this will improve blood flow to the heart from the lower veins). The body can be covered with a blanket to prevent cooling.
2. Further actions:
• The first step is to immediately call an ambulance or 911
• Then immediately begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation of the victim
3. Indirect cardiac massage. Instruction:
• One hand is placed with the palm on the lower third of the sternum, so that the main emphasis falls on the metacarpus. The other hand is placed on top
• The depth of pressure (compressions) should be 5 cm for adults, for children 4-5 cm or 1/3 of the diameter of the chest
• Compression rate – 100 compressions per minute
• The ratio of compressions and breaths – 30 per for 2 breaths
4. Artificial respiration:
• Volume – 500-600 ml of air (6-7 ml/kg) 6-10 breaths per minute
• Interruption of compressions reduces the victim’s chances of survival. Try to inhale as quickly as possible to shorten the pauses between compressions.
• At the same time, excessive ventilation of the lungs should be avoided.
Ideally, there should be two people and they should change each other every 2 minutes! As soon as a pulse appears and the victim’s breathing can be heard, massage and artificial ventilation of the lungs should be stopped. Before the ambulance arrived, you did everything you could. It must be remembered that when blood circulation stops, deterioration can occur very suddenly and abruptly. During this period, clinical death may occur, which will last only 4-6 minutes. This is the time that you have to provide first aid and save a person’s life.
Add comment