Thaindian News

July 30 (THAINDIAN NEWS) According to two new studies which were done on the subject of CPR, “hands only” chest compression is enough to keep a person alive until an ambulance can reach them. This is very good news since more bystanders are willing to try CPR if they have a dispatcher available to walk them through the process and if the can just press the chest repeatedly without having to do mouth to mouth resuscitation.

CPR, which stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is a lifesaving technique which has been in use for half a century. The standard version involves a rescuer alternating pushing on the chest 30 times with breathing into the victim’s mouth twice. But experts have come to believe that it is the pushing that is most important in the process.

Although the American Heart Association has been encouraging people to do hands only CPR for two years, not many people have heard of it, or realize that it is an option. Researchers hope that the two new studies will help persuade people to step in and try to save more lives with the simpler technique which erases the risk of exposure to disease for the would-be rescuer.

If a person collapses and ceases breathing, most bystanders will panic and feel that the only thing they can do is call 911, and walk away. It is estimated that 310,000 Americans die every year of a heart attack outside of a hospital, and only 6 percent of those survive. The number of survivors could be greatly improved if someone tried performing CPR.

Dr Arthur Kellerman who is an expert on emergency medicine for the RAND corporation asked, “That could translate into hundreds if not thousands of additional lives saved each year. What are we waiting for?”