April 2, 2008
See Someone Collapse of Possible Heart Attack? Get Down On it
Heart Association Says 'Hard-Fast' Chest compression Saves Lives; Forget the Mouth to Mouth
By Tony Seaton
Huntingtonnews.net City Editor
Huntington, WV (HNN) -- Most everybody knows the famous, or infamous, (depending upon your funkiness quotient) 70s hit song Stayin' Alive of Saturday Night Fever fame. That song bleats out its Bee Gees disco pulse at about 120 beats per minute. That information helped disco DJs determine what songs could be 'mixed' with it to keep the dance floor movin' back in the day.
It's also about the number of chest compressions you need to administer to keep the heart moving in someone who is in cardiac arrest. Having a heart attack in other words. If you want to keep THEM 'Stayin' Alive,' you've got to get with the rhythm just like Tony Manero, aka: John Travolta, did on the dance floor in that movie, doctors say.
Forget the mouth to mouth resuscitation; the time it takes for you to stop the beat you've got going with 'hard and fast' (100-to 120 per minute,) compressions on the victim's chest to attempt mouth to mouth resuscitation is too long when seconds count, so just keep pumping, the American Heart Association now says.
The Association said on Monday, if not in so many words, but parenthetically, that even if your dance floor skills are a little rusty or you never even had any moves, don't be a wall flower. In other words, even if you don't know CPR, don't stand idly by because you don't think you know how to administer it while an adult stricken with sudden cardiac arrest is dying right in front of you.
In recommendations published in its journal Circulation, the group emphasized "hands-only" CPR -- a simple procedure that bystanders can perform without worrying about doing the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation part of CPR.
"The thing that's killing people is inaction," said Dr. Michael Sayre of Ohio State University, who headed the association's team that drafted the new recommendations.
Sayre said people not trained in CPR should do two things when they encounter an adult who has suddenly collapsed: first, call emergency services; and second, begin pushing "hard and fast" in the center of the person's chest.
This is necessary to maintain vital blood flow, according to experts. Chest compressions should continue until emergency medical services responders arrive, Sayre said.
"Today in the United States, less than a third of victims of sudden cardiac arrest get any form of CPR. Anything that would increase that is bound to save lives," Sayre said in a telephone interview.
"We want the general public to know that even if they've never been trained, they can help victims of sudden cardiac arrest."
In the minutes after an adult collapses, hands-only CPR -- without mouth-to-mouth rescue efforts -- is equivalent to conventional CPR in its life-saving value, Sayre said.
All too often, no one at the scene does anything to help the victim of sudden cardiac arrest -- often because there is no one trained in CPR and other people are scared that they will do something to make the victim's condition worse. But considering the person's condition, Sayre said, "You can't make them any worse."
"Hands-only" CPR is not advised for babies and children or for adults whose cardiac arrest is due to respiratory causes such as a drowning scenario or drug overdose, the group said.
Conventional CPR is still a crucial skill to know and medical personnel should still perform it, the group said.
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Heart Association Says 'Hard-Fast' Chest compression Saves Lives; Forget the Mouth to Mouth
 |
By Tony Seaton
Huntingtonnews.net City Editor
Huntington, WV (HNN) -- Most everybody knows the famous, or infamous, (depending upon your funkiness quotient) 70s hit song Stayin' Alive of Saturday Night Fever fame. That song bleats out its Bee Gees disco pulse at about 120 beats per minute. That information helped disco DJs determine what songs could be 'mixed' with it to keep the dance floor movin' back in the day.
It's also about the number of chest compressions you need to administer to keep the heart moving in someone who is in cardiac arrest. Having a heart attack in other words. If you want to keep THEM 'Stayin' Alive,' you've got to get with the rhythm just like Tony Manero, aka: John Travolta, did on the dance floor in that movie, doctors say.
Forget the mouth to mouth resuscitation; the time it takes for you to stop the beat you've got going with 'hard and fast' (100-to 120 per minute,) compressions on the victim's chest to attempt mouth to mouth resuscitation is too long when seconds count, so just keep pumping, the American Heart Association now says.
The Association said on Monday, if not in so many words, but parenthetically, that even if your dance floor skills are a little rusty or you never even had any moves, don't be a wall flower. In other words, even if you don't know CPR, don't stand idly by because you don't think you know how to administer it while an adult stricken with sudden cardiac arrest is dying right in front of you.
In recommendations published in its journal Circulation, the group emphasized "hands-only" CPR -- a simple procedure that bystanders can perform without worrying about doing the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation part of CPR.
"The thing that's killing people is inaction," said Dr. Michael Sayre of Ohio State University, who headed the association's team that drafted the new recommendations.
Sayre said people not trained in CPR should do two things when they encounter an adult who has suddenly collapsed: first, call emergency services; and second, begin pushing "hard and fast" in the center of the person's chest.
This is necessary to maintain vital blood flow, according to experts. Chest compressions should continue until emergency medical services responders arrive, Sayre said.
"Today in the United States, less than a third of victims of sudden cardiac arrest get any form of CPR. Anything that would increase that is bound to save lives," Sayre said in a telephone interview.
"We want the general public to know that even if they've never been trained, they can help victims of sudden cardiac arrest."
In the minutes after an adult collapses, hands-only CPR -- without mouth-to-mouth rescue efforts -- is equivalent to conventional CPR in its life-saving value, Sayre said.
All too often, no one at the scene does anything to help the victim of sudden cardiac arrest -- often because there is no one trained in CPR and other people are scared that they will do something to make the victim's condition worse. But considering the person's condition, Sayre said, "You can't make them any worse."
"Hands-only" CPR is not advised for babies and children or for adults whose cardiac arrest is due to respiratory causes such as a drowning scenario or drug overdose, the group said.
Conventional CPR is still a crucial skill to know and medical personnel should still perform it, the group said.
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