Hands Only CPR, New CPR Guidelines Saves Lives

New Science and research has discovered that when an ordinary bystander participates in hands on CPR with a cardiac victim then the victim has a better chance of surviving.

When I attended nursing school back in 1996 there was only one way to learn CPR. They taught us to tilt the head back and listen for breathing. If the person wasn’t breathing normal then we were supposed to check the airway for obstruction. When we found no obstruction we were to breathe twice in the person’s mouth and then give 15 compressions to the chest. As Science continues to progress things begin to change. Now it is 30 compressions with the original CPR, compared to the 15 that we used to do. Now with new AHA guidelines released in March any ordinary bystander can give the new hands only CPR.

The new hands on only CPR is designed to provide bystanders a simple way of helping people in need. It consists of only two steps:

1)To call 911

2)To give the victim hard and fast compressions to the chest, about 100 per minute

This is so simple that anyone can do it. There are people that know CPR but yet are hesitant in doing mouth to mouth with someone they do not know. They are afraid of catching some dreaded disease. So for those that are hesitant in doing mouth to mouth they can always use the new hands only CPR.

It’s a scary thing for people to see someone collapse in front of them. A lot of times not knowing what to do will put them in a state of panic. That’s why the American Heart Association/AHA has simplified the methods of CPR. They know that time is critical to a collapsed victim. Any bystander nearby is better than none. However a lot of people are afraid of hurting someone instead of helping them. With the more simplified new hands on only CPR the AHA can give ordinary people and bystanders more confidence in knowing what they are doing.

Around 310,000 Americans die each year from cardiac arrest and only 6% outside of the hospital survive. Some statistics may vary depending on location. However the people that get the hands on only CPR have a better chance of surviving. The AHA is now saying that the Hands only CPR is just as effective as the conventional methods previously used. People who have been trained with previous CPR courses can now opt to use the hands only method. The AHA hopes by doing this there will be more people that will jump in to help when a person has collapsed and needs cardiac care.