Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a technique that could prove to be life-saving for someone experiencing a cardiac arrest or heart attack.
In the UK, 30,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of a hospital environment every year. However, according to statistics from the British Heart Foundation, fewer than one in 10 people who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survive.
Learning CPR
It can be beneficial to attend an emergency first aid course that covers a variety of potentially life-saving techniques. While you may never need to use your training in a real-life situation, this knowledge can give you the confidence needed to step in if you encounter a person having a medical emergency.
When looking into your options for emergency first aid training courses, it is important to seek out properly accredited options taught by tutors that have real-life experience, such as the courses that can be found here: tidaltraining.co.uk/emergency-first-aid-training-courses.
How to perform CPR
CPR can help to keep both blood and oxygen flowing to the brain, thereby increasing a person’s chances of surviving until paramedics or other medical professionals are able to step in and provide additional care. Without CPR, a person who is experiencing a cardiac arrest could die within 10 minutes.
CPR used to involve both chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breaths. However, chest compressions are the most important part of the technique and are equally as effective when used alone.
There are only a few steps involved with delivering potentially life-saving assistance to someone experiencing a medical emergency:
Step 1: call the emergency services.
Step 2: check whether the person is unconscious and has a pulse.
Step 3: if no pulse is detected, press hard and fast in the centre of the chest to begin compressions.
It is recommended to carry out chest compressions to the beat of the song “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, which equates to 100 beats per minute.
Today, many locations around the country have an automated external defibrillator. AEDs can significantly increase the chances of survival and provide easy-to-follow prompts automatically, so they should be used if accessible.