Friday, August 27, 2010

Staying Alive Rehabilitation

New modified chest compression method for cardiac arrest


Act quickly, call 911. "Staying Alive" is 100 beats per minute, don't stop until the paramedics take over.

 

Continuous Chest Compression CPR video, 6 minutes.  ".... hands-only CPR method that doubles a person’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest....does not require mouth-to-mouth contact, making it more likely bystanders will try to help.  The American Heart Association has updated its CPR guidelines and now advocates continuous chest compressions, a method developed at The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center."  Also from the UA News article:


Compression-Only CPR is much simpler to perform than traditional CPR and therefore bystanders are more likely to do it,” Ewy said. “Most importantly, the new recommendations remove the largest obstacle, the requirement for mouth-to-mouth ventilation, commonly called 'rescue breathing,' that has kept many bystanders from taking appropriate action.”
Instructions for Chest-Compression-Only CPR for the lay public have been previously published by Ewy. The authors of the AHA statement point out that “this ‘call to action’ does not apply to unwitnessed cardiac arrest, cardiac arrest in children or cardiac arrest presumed to be of non-cardiac origin.

Video or self-guided instruction references:

Importance of continuing blood flow moving to the heart and brain.  Mayo Clinic version, 2:20 minutes. 
One man's personal experience, more training.  Health Service Version, more training, 10:52 minutes.
Quick "learn how guide" is also located on the

government website, self-guided instruction. 
100 beats per minute, beats to "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees (1977), 3:55 minutes, and  "Stayin' Alive" lyrics, 4:47 minutes.

Modified chest compression (CPR) is something most of us can learn.  And, who knows, the life you save may be that of someone you don't like, giving "them" years to improve.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

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