A beginner's guide to CPR

If someone collapses in front of you and stops breathing or blood flow stops, remember, every second counts. The person can suffer permanent brain damage inside four minutes if not attended to, and can even die in 10 minutes. As an onlooker, you can help save a life if you are familiar with the steps of CPR or cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

What is CPR?

CPR is a lifesaving technique used in emergencies like a heart attack or a near-drowning experience where the affected person’s heart or breathing has stopped. In such a situation, anyone nearby should try CPR on the collapsed individual, because doing something is better than doing nothing and can result in saving the person’s life. CPR ensures that oxygenated blood flows to the brain and vital organs before medical help arrives.

A person will need CPR if he/she:

Collapses
Doesn’t respond
Stops breathing
Doesn’t have a pulse

There are two types of CPR:

Hands-only CPR: You have to push hard and quick in the centre of the person’s chest 100 to 120 times per minute.
CPR with breaths: While giving chest compressions, you pause every 30 compressions to give the person mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths, each for about 20 seconds.

Before starting CPR:

Try calling for emergency medical help. Paramedics can also guide you through the CPR steps on the phone. Focus on A, B and C to see if the person needs CPR.

A is for Airway. Tilt the person’s head back and look into their mouth and throat to see if there’s any object stuck. If so, he/she could be choking.
B is for Breathing. Lean in close to the face to listen if the person is breathing. Look for signs of the chest going up and down.
C is for Circulation. Check for a pulse and feel the side of the neck just below the jawline for a few seconds.

How to do CPR

Hands-only CPR (chest compressions)

· Put one of your hands over the other and place them in the middle of the person’s chest.

· With the force of your body weight behind it, push your hands down hard in the middle of the person’s chest for a second. Keep your elbows straight and use the heel of your hand.

· Push repeatedly on the person’s chest 100 to 120 times per minute.

· Push down 2 inches each time.

· Allow the chest to come all the way back up between compressions.

Giving rescue breaths

· Pinch the nose of the person while tilting the head back a little and lifting the chin up.

· Close your mouth over that of the collapsed person and blow one normal-sized breath into it. If the person’s chest doesn’t come up, check to see if there’s something in the mouth. Give a total of 2 breaths and resume chest compressions.

Keep doing chest compressions and giving rescue breaths in a cycle until the person revives or medical help arrives. If you get tired, someone else can take over. Even if you can’t do rescue breaths, it’s OK to do chest compressions alone.

CPR can save a person’s life if they receive it immediately after going into cardiac arrest. CPR can keep blood moving through a person’s body and prevent organ damage, like cerebral hypoxia. Around 1 in 4 people who receive prompt CPR in a hospital can survive and go home after hospital stay. Around 1 in 10 people who get CPR after a cardiac arrest in a non-hospital setting survive.