More than 300,000 people go into cardiac arrest outside of a hospital every year. This year also marks the 55th anniversary since CPR was first developed.
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The association’s 2015 guidelines for CPR say if someone is having a heart attack, you should call 911 and be ready to do what’s called “Bystander CPR” or “Hands Only CPR”. Numerous studies on the effectiveness of resuscitation procedures have been reviewed for the new 2015 ERC Guidelines. Those studies producing convincing scientific evidence or emphasising simplification were particularly likely to be implemented.
In many cases where people do take action, bystanders had to be prompted by emergency service operators to act, delaying vital CPR and further reducing the chances of survival.
The 2015 update calls for untrained bystanders to call 911 and begin using hands-only CPR – without breaths.
Ms Murray added: “It is a huge concern that so few people have the skills and confidence to perform CPR and this is undoubtedly costing lives”.
The charity is educating more than 35,000 schoolchildren in the United Kingdom on Friday on how to recognise a cardiac arrest and perform CPR.
For the general public, the guidelines reinforce the concept of good, better, best. Standard CPR includes compressing the chest and giving mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing.
Sears says the chest compressions should be done at a rate of 100 to 120 per minute, with the beat of the disco song “Stayin’ Alive” a ideal match for the timing. CPR is continued with this compression to breathing ratio of 30:2. However those who haven’t been trained or those who aren’t willing to provide mouth-to-mouth, can give compression-only CPR and that will be as effective for most patients.
The 2015 Guidelines Update for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) expand on how mobile phones can increase chances of surviving this type of emergency.
The AHA says dispatchers should be trained in helping bystanders check for breathing and to recognize signs of cardiac arrest. Defibrillation within 3-5 minutes of collapse can produce survival rates as high as 50-70%.
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Sears notes that getting bystanders involved – whether they’re calling 911, performing CPR and using an automated external defibrillator if available – is especially critical in North Dakota and other rural states where it can take time for emergency crews to respond. The ERC Guidelines 2015 highlight the critical importance of the interactions between the ambulance dispatcher, the bystander who provides CPR and the timely deployment of an AED. “Those are changes that are happening now and you’re seeing many regions evolve and create plans of care for patients after cardiac arrest just like we did in the late 1990s or the early 2000s for acute myocardial infarctions (also known as heart attacks)”, Callaway said. There is emphasis on the frequent need for longer treatment periods in the ICU.
