CPR is an abbreviation of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation which is a lifesaving medical procedure or first aid for immediate care and treatment of a person who has developed sudden cardiac arrest. So it is crucial that every responsible person should know the steps of CPR to save a precious life in the cases of emergency.

If you suddenly witness a cardiac arrest then it should be your primary duty to call ambulance service from the nearest health care center or hospital. Then you should start CPR first aid treatment so that blood circulation can be started again. This is absolutely a safe mode of treatment and there is no risk in applying it.

With the highest count of death caused by cardiac arrest health concerns, it is now listed among the top major life-threatening diseases. Its criticality can be measured with the fact that most of death rate cases caused by medical emergency situations such as lung cancer, stroke, serious accident, etc. are quite less than the death caused by cardiac arrest, worldwide.

Cardiac arrest is a critical health condition caused by a certain electrical problem inside the heart. As a result of it, the heart stops pumping blood circulation to the brain and rest of the body parts.

So the moment someone develops this issue the nearby person should start giving CPR to the victim in a very faster mode for a positive result and bringing back the blood circulation flow again. It should be done within 10 minutes of cardiac arrest and should be continued until the ambulance service arrives at the home place of the victim.

Any delay more than the 10 minutes of cardiac arrest or slow movements while processing CPR contains very lesser chance to control the situation and may cause immediate collapse or death on spot.

Steps of CPR

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CPR is a medically approved and effective first aid measure to manage a critical health incident that is sudden cardiac arrest. The person knowing CPR needs to press over the chest of the victim and a series of breath for rescue is needed to be provided for saving life.

A person victim of cardiac arrest falls unconscious and stops breathing. If CPR help is not provided immediately then it can cause immediate death. However, the effectiveness of CPR help will only be ensured if its processing is fastest possible otherwise the survival rate and chances rescue with each second of delay decreases.

Due to increase rate of death caused by a cardiac arrest health issue, it calls for each and every individual to stay aware of the right steps and procedure of CPR which increases the survival rate of the victim to the 90%. Below mentioned steps will clarify and teach you the way to conduct this first aid measure even to those who don’t belong to any medical department anyway.

Shake the Casualty’s Body- If you see someone get unconscious in front of you then the first measure that you should take is to check whether there is any risk of danger exists or not, or it is a normal fall due to dehydration or any other reason.

Before giving your help check at first the state of casualty by shaking his or her body and ask in a loud voice whether the person is OK or not. Repeat this process two to three times to bring back their consciousness.

If you are alone at that place then shout loudly to get the help of nearby people and don’t leave the person alone until you get a sign of recovery from danger.

Check the Signs of Normal Breathing- Any cardiac arrest victim will not be able to breathe normally or may not breathe at all. So the next step that you need to follow is to check the sign of normal breathing.

If you don’t feel or look or listen to casualty’s breath or even you feel but find it abnormal then you should immediately open their airways so that breathing could be possible. Otherwise, if you find the person is breathing normally then move the person to a restroom until an ambulance service arrives.

For this, you need to hold the head of the victim from the back and check the normal signs of breathing by

Trying to listen to the breath through your ears.
Check the victim’s chest movements.
Try to feel their breath by putting your cheeks in the front of victim’s nose and mouth.

If you don’t feel or look or listen to casualty’s breath or even you feel but find it abnormal then you should immediately open their airways so that breathing could be possible. Otherwise, if you find that the person is breathing normally then moves them to a restroom until an ambulance or any other responsible health care services arrives.

Call Ambulance- If you find that the person who gets unconscious is not breathing normally or not breathing at all then without a minute delay call immediately to the nearest medical center for immediate service of the ambulance before you start giving CPR to them.
Provide Chest Compressions- As you are very much sure about the cardiac arrest of the said victim so it’s time to give CPR to them so that stopped blood circulation can be revived from heart to the brain.

For this kneel down in front of the person and place the heel of one of your hand in the center of the victim’s chest. Now place your second hand on top of the first hand and interlock the fingers of both the hands.

Keep your arm straight and through your hand’s heel, press the breastbone towards down very smoothly and firmly. Press the chest between 5 to 6 cm down and release.

Try to give chest compressions at the rate of 100 to 120 CPR per minute but not less than100 CPR in a minute. Likewise, give at least 30 CPR.

Provide the Rescue Breathe- After compression its time to give at least two rescues breaths. For this, you need to open the airways of the victim by tilting their head back and lifting their chin. Hold the soft part of the nose closed.

Now you take a normal breath and place your mouth over the mouth of the victim and release your breath steadily. In this position, the victim’s chest must rise and fall.

Again pull your mouth back and take other normal breath and release it into the victim’s mouth. These two rescues breathe are very important and it will not take more than five seconds.

Repeat the Process Till Rescue Team Arrives- If you don’t see any sign of recovery then you should repeat the 30 compressions again and two rescues breathe, until the ambulance or other medical rescue team arrives at the place.

Important Facts about CPR

Regarding CPR people have some common myths which are absolutely far from the truth. As this is an effective procedure for saving a life from danger caused by cardiac arrest so it is very important that you must be aware of some vital facts about it. Just go through the below-mentioned points to increase your knowledge about CPR facts.

People have a myth that the number of chest compressions varies with the age of victim which is not true. As per the report of New York’s CPR committee team, it is vital to give chest compression at least 100 times in a minute which involves pushing chest approx. 2 to 3 inches down.

While giving chest compression the person who is providing help should not check the pulses of the victim as it can hurt the victim more than helpful and should continue pushing chest until the necessary help arrives on the spot area.

People have a myth if the victim is not breathing normally or breathing irregularly then there is no requirement of CPR help which is not true. However, the fact is that if the victim is collapsed and breathing irregularly they should be provided with CPR help as the survival chances still exist.
People have a myth that during CPR processing if the victim is not getting conscious that means CPR is not working positively which is not true.

The aim of CPR is to circulate the blood flow towards the brain, heart and other important organs of the body. So if you are performing CPR correctly and not getting any sign of consciousness in the victim then also you should not stop and continue giving CPR in order to keep circulating the blood flow.

People have a myth that the hands-only CPR is not as effective as the Conventional CPR which includes rescue breathing, which is not true. The fact is that hands-only CPR given on the initial few minutes of sudden cardiac arrest is equally effective as the conventional CPR.
Another myth that people have regarding the CPR help for cardiac arrest that if the affected person’s heart is not started breathing on its own even after giving CPR for few minutes then there are very least chances of survival which is absolutely false.

As per the medical research report, a consistent professional CPR along with the bystander also known as you and I contains the chances of survival up to one hour from the time of sudden cardiac arrest.

Causes of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Sudden cardiac arrest is a medical emergency situation in which the victim can collapse within a minute without developing any warning sign. His or her heart stops beating and the blood flow stopped through the brain and other vital organs and there will be no pulse at all.

There can be several reasons or causes that can lead to immediate abnormal heart rhythm. Some vital conditions that can trigger sudden cardiac arrest include the following:

Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease is the most common reason for sudden cardiac arrest especially in people who are older than 35. This health issue develops due to blockage in arteries caused by cholesterol deposition or any other deposit which prevents the normal blood flow in the heart.

Enlarged Size of Heart

This health issue appears when the size of the heart increases due to stretching in its external muscular walls causing it enlarges and thick. The abnormal heart’s muscle leads to develop a condition called arrhythmias.

Heart Attack

People who have been a victim of a heart attack due to a severe coronary disease contain a very high risk of sudden cardiac arrest in the future. This particularly happens because often the heart attack leaves behind scar tissue and when the electrical short circuit appears around the heart it can cause abnormal heart rhythm or cardiac arrest.

Heart Birth Defects

People born with heart birth defects, even though the defect is treated through surgery still in those cases risk of sudden cardiac arrest lies for the lifetime. This condition is also known as congenital heart disease. Children and adolescents who develop sudden cardiac arrest it’s only because of their heart birth defects.

Heart Electrical Problems

Some people have a direct issue in their heart’s electrical system not with their heart’s muscles or valves. This condition is known as heart rhythm abnormalities which include diseases such as long OT syndrome and Brugada’s syndrome.

Valvular Heart Issue

The heart’s muscles get stretched and thicken due to narrowing or leaking of the heart valves. This leads to an increase in the chambers size caused by stress or a leaking valve. This particular condition increases the risk of arrhythmia.

Other Reasons

The chances of sudden cardiac arrest risk exist to a great extent in people who have a family history of cardiac arrest or with those who have developed heart attack previously. Apart from this, men aging 45 or more and women after 55 of age contains the risk of sudden cardiac arrest due to age-related factors.

As sudden cardiac arrest can lead to developing its immediate effect in the form of loss of a life so it is very important for everyone that they should learn about the steps of CPR, as it is a true life savior in a safer manner.

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Simple Steps to Perform CPR to Save a Life : Causes of Cardiac Arrest