Better Than CPR?…

Did you know that death from cardiac arrest or more commonly known as a heart attack comes in second right after cancer deaths?

It’s almost unthinkable to realize that over 1,300 people PER DAY die of this. And what is the first life saving technique used? Now come on, you’ve seen it on ER and you may even have taken a course in First Aid which taught it to you.

That’s right, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). There is a distinct impression given that CPR is a real lifesaver; however, the facts tell a different story.

If you are out and about and someone has a cardiac arrest, it is very likely that no one will perform CPR, not even you, because it involves mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a stranger.

What many don’t know is that the survival rate is nowhere close to what you might expect even you did perform mouth-to-mouth.

In real life CPR rarely works! Nobody ever told me that?

Think about it. If it did work, then why is the survival rate outside the hospital so low? On top of that is the fact that the latest research shows that performing mouth-to-mouth actually lowers the victim’s chance of survival.

Now why on earth are we being shown mouth-to-mouth as an integral part of CPR in the first place? I won’t attempt to answer this question but I will leave you to your own assumptions.

However, there is a technique that I will share with you that has been shown to increase the survival rate of cardiac arrest victims by and unbelievable 300 percent without mouth-to-mouth CPR.

Unfortunately, it is not endorsed by the American Heart Association or the Red Cross. But it has been proven to work in the real world with paramedics, emergency medical personnel and people like you and me.

Don’t stop pushing!

It’s that easy. Think about it. When someone has a sudden cardiac arrest, their lungs, pulmonary veins, aorta and all arteries are still full of oxygenated blood. Pushing oxygen in the lungs will not add more oxygen at that moment.

What is needed is continuous chest compressions to facilitate continued circulated of this oxygenated blood. Stopping the compressions to give mouth-to-mouth slows this process down so much that it is the main reason why victim recovery is so low.

In his research at the Sarver Heart Center, Dr. Gordon Ewy used both lab animals and field work to verify the benefits of immediate circulation. He calls this new resuscitation procedure CCR.

Dr Ewy found that the brain no longer gets adequate amounts of blood flow if you stop compressions for any reason. Since it takes at least 15 compressions to build up pressure, if you stop to give mouth-to-mouth, the pressure will drop to almost nothing.

This stop and start is deadly especially if you add the extra pressure of air filled lungs which reduces the blood flow from the veins going back to the heart.

So if you want to increase your save rate by 300% by omitting mouth-to-mouth here is the basic technique you can use:

• Make sure victim is on his back.
• While kneeling beside the chest, place the heel of your hand in the middle of the chest and cover it with your other hand. Keeping elbows locked, press firmly on the chest using your hips as a pivot point so that your full upper body weight can be used to compress the person’s chest.
• Do 100 compressions per minute. A good way to estimate the pace is by saying, “one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four” and so on. Think of it as if you were reading to a child. Your reading pace would be much slower than normal unless you’re a slow reader to start with.
• Another important point is to make sure that the heel of your hand breaks contact with the chest during the relaxation phase and that you do not continue to press on the chest between compressions. This allows the chest to spring back normally and will help in returning blood flow to the heart.
• Make sure that you also rest if tired. Just switch with someone else. If no one else is there, you will need to rest just the same but try to keep the pace going for as long as you can and while resting, make it as short as you can.
• Say some prayers while working, every little bit helps and you are doing all that you can to insure a better survival and recovery rate for the individual in question.
• Dr Ewy’s research doesn’t rule out mouth-to-mouth completely. He recommends that if you are willing to do mouth-to-mouth, it would be best to do continuous chest compressions for the first four minutes which is equal to 400 compressions and then follow with only one or two ventilations at the most before each set of 100 compressions after the first 4 minutes.

He also emphasizes that ventilation is probably mandatory after about 15 minutes of compressions if the patient is not gasping. Now gasping may not indicate that you should not start or stop compressions, although gasping does provide some oxygenation. He recommends you do not stop until an EMS arrives.

There is one caution. We have been talking here about a n unexpected collapse in an adult, which is almost always a cardiac arrest. Do not confuse it with a condition called respiratory arrest.

Should respiratory arrest be indicated, then the traditional CPR of 30 compressions alternated with 2 mouth-to-mouth breaths is what is needed. What could cause a respiratory arrest are incidents of drowning, drug overdose, asthma attack etc.

A clear way to determine the difference is to check the pulse. If it’s there, then it’s respiratory. If it’s not, then it’s cardiac arrest. Simple!

The old ways just aren’t working as first perceived and if the current position of the American Heart Association and the Red Cross continues, many more will die before research is adopted and endorsed.

But you don’t have to wait. Learn the technique by reading this article over and over again. Save it somewhere and print it out. Send it to your family and friends. The more people you share it with, the more likely more lives can be saved.

It’s not only easier than CPR, it works better!

Improving other peoples lives is my business. Keeping them alive is my passion!

Tags: cardiac arrest, CPR, heart attack