CPR for cardiac arrest: someone's life is in your hands

Cardiac arrest is the latest in 911. The heart ceases to send blood to the body and brain, or because it is beating too fast and too erratic, or because it has stopped completely. Brain cells begin to die of oxygen starvation. Death occurs in minutes - unless a viewer takes things in hand and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Make CPR keeps blood from flowing until rescuers trained and better equipped arrive on the scene to start the heart back into a normal rhythm.

"The brain is the most sensitive organ of the body to oxygen deprivation," said Robert Graham, a scholar of health policy at George Washington University and president of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) Committee recently launched a new massive report on ways to improve survival from cardiac arrest. "If you can follow the flow of blood to the brain for five, seven or ten minutes until rescuers get there, you gave that person the best chance we have of recovery. "

New evidence supports better survival in CPR
 In this week's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), two teams of researchers provide convincing proof of the principle that "time equals brain" and that efforts to improve the response to cardiac arrest can afford.In the ideal scenario, a spectator

    *  witnesses an individual entering cardiac arrest
    *  911 calls
    *  CPR starts immediately and continues until another passer or first responders can use an automated external defibrillator (AED) to shock the heart to a normal rhythm.

AEDs are portable devices that offer a brief electric shock to the heart for pumping normally. They are increasingly in public places such as shopping centers. Unfortunately, often they are sitting in their cupboards used - even when there is a true emergency.

A team assessed the impact of a North Carolina initiative to train the general public in CPR and AED use. As part of the campaign, emergency workers have also received training on how to recognize a heart attack and respond appropriately.

The study team covers nearly 5,000 cardiac arrests that occurred between 2010 and 2013 in North Carolina. The percentage of people who received care ideal cardiac arrest increased 14% to 23% during this period. Meanwhile, the survival of brain injuries increased from 7.1% to 9.7%.

The other team extracted a 168.000 cardiac arrest database out of the hospital, which took place in Japan between 2005 and 2012. During this period, the percentage of people in cardiac arrest who received bystander CPR increased 39% to 51%. Meanwhile, the survival rate "neurologically intact" increased from 4.1% to 8.4%.

You can get lost in all these numbers, but the overall message is that we have more people in the street can quickly recognize and respond to cardiac arrest records brains - and lives.

More people need to learn CPR
 There is still much room for improvement. Of the 400,000 or more Americans who go to cardiac arrest outside the hospital each year, only 6% survive the crisis. This percentage decrease could have something to do with the fact that only 3% of Americans learn to do CPR every year.

The report of the National Academy of Medicine has shown that some communities have dramatically increased survival from cardiac arrest. Seattle, for example, cardiac arrest improved response on two fronts - formed the number of viewers and the effectiveness of the first to respond. In fact, the Seattle survival rate has exceeded 60% of cardiac arrest outside the hospital, which was witnessed by someone. Compare this to a single double-digit rates in many other urban areas.

"It was really a reflection of leadership and the people who decide what is important and who are willing to work on it for 20 years individual," said Graham. "There is a large group of people who are trained to recognize a cardiac arrest and have a mindset to respond. "Seattle communities" can be used as benchmarks to say that this is possible. It is not insurmountable, "says Graham.

The National Academy of Medicine report offers recommendations on how to get from here. Two of the most important are the creation of a national registry of cardiac arrest and expansion of programs in schools and communities to train people in CPR and AED use.  

Ok, it's up to you
 If you want to be ready to help anyone who went into cardiac arrest, the watchwords are "recognized" and "respond".Recognize. Many people do not know the difference between a heart attack and a heart attack or fainting. A person in cardiac arrest not breathing, no pulse, and can not respond. Someone who has a heart attack is usually conscious and breathing, has a pulse and can answer your questions.Reply. Here's what to do if you witness someone enters cardiac arrest:

    *  Call 911 immediately, or have someone else do it. Means call emergency medical personnel are heading your way.
    *  Hands just start chest compressions:
        - Place one hand over the other, and place both the sternum of the person at the center of his chest.
        - Press firmly enough to make the chest inward movement about an inch.
        - Relax and repeat. To do this, about 100 times per minute. For the good tempo, reflect on the pace of 'disco anthem "Stayin' Alive Bee Gees."
    *  Keep doing CPR until an AED arrives with someone - either a viewer who obtained a business or a building, or the first to answer.

Word breathing through the mouth is not necessary if you do CPR on someone who has seen him go into cardiac arrest. This is because the blood of the individual has enough stored to him or her will for oxygen to keep everything. 

Get training

Many organizations sponsor training programs in CPR and AED. Two of the most notable are the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross. Some are classes in person; others are online. Many local health departments also offer CPR training, including the "friends and family" classes for those who are close to someone at risk of cardiac arrest.

The investment of time and effort to learn CPR is small. The profit potential - save a life - it is huge.