|
Last Updated: Jun 30, 2008 - 11:14:37 AM |
MONDAY March 31, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- The American Heart Association updated its 2005 guidelines saying that bystanders who see someone suffering sudden cardiac arrest should quickly give the person hard chest compressions even if they are not trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Reuters reported Monday.
The 2005 guidelines say bystanders do chest compressions only if they were unable or unwilling to provide mouth-to-mouth efforts. Month-to-mouth resuscitation is a once-thought important component in the conventional CPR.
Studies have found the mount-to-month twist can only waste time. But the guidelines say for professionals, conventional CPR with the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is still a crucial skill to know and perform.
The heart group urged people do not hesitate when they see someone suffering sudden cardiac arrest and dying in front of them. What bystanders should do is first call emergency services and then start immediately to press the center of the person's chest hard and fast. Chest compression should continue until emergency help arrives.
Dr. Michael Sayre of Ohio State University, who participated in drafting the new recommendations, according to Reuters, said in the U.S., less than one third of victims of sudden cardiac arrest get any form of CPR. Anything that can maintain vital blood flow would increase the odds of the person's survival.
According to Reuters's report, about 310,000 adults in the U.S. die annually from sudden cardiac arrest that occurs away from a hospital setting. An early report showed even in hospitals, only less than one third survives from the deadly event.
Of those who die from sudden cardiac arrest, about 94% dies before being admitted to a hospital. 80 percent of sudden cardiac arrest occurs at home and patients must be resuscitated with minutes or sudden cardiac arrest cause brain deaths, which begin four to six minutes after cardiac arrest if no CPR or defibrillation is provided.
It should be cautioned though that "hands-only" CPR is not advised to help babies and children or adults whose cardiac arrest is due to respiratory causes such as drowning or drug overdosing, the group was cited as saying.
The new recommendations that emphasize on "hands-only" CPR for bystanders were published in the association's journal Circulation.
© 2004-2008 by foodconsumer.org unless otherwise specified
Top of Page
Search Consumer-friendly Health Sites
