Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), is the sequence of actions consisting
of rescue breaths and chest compressions which are applied when we find that a person
(victim) does not breathe, in order to keep his brain oxygenated and restore his vital functions.
Every year, thousands of men and women collapse and die from cardiac arrest. Death could have been avoided if CPR had just begun. CPR consists of two key actions:
• Rescue breaths (to transfer oxygen to the lungs)
• Chest compressions (to restore as much blood circulation as possible)
With CPR we can gain time to
get specialized help using other techniques and methods to recover the victim.
In most cases, CPR alone cannot restore heart function, but however, its good
application increases the chances of successful defibrillation. CPR consists of
the sequence actions as shown below:
• Close the victim's nose
• Keep lifting the victim’s chin and take a deep breath
• Seal your lips around the victim's lips
• Firmly blow in victim’s mouth
• Remove your mouth
• Apply 15 chest compressions by joining the palms of your two hands to the victim’s chest
• Continue with 8-10 rescue breaths and the corresponding chest compressions for 1 minute
• Check the blood circulation points every 1 minute
CPR is intended to restore
oxygen transport to the tissues and
maintain as many vital functions of the body as possible. In other
words, CPR is a part of the actions we are doing in an effort to bring the
patient back to life, based on the survival chain that includes the following:
• Quick arrival
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• External defibrillation
The chances of successful
revitalization depend on the timeframe that the vital chain of survival will be
completed.