Imagine this: You are standing at a bus stop early in the morning. There are four people with you, two teenagers, an elderly man, and a business woman. Suddenly, the elderly man grips his chest with his hand and falls down, face forward. Statistically, one out of the five of you know CPR*.
But what if the person who knows it is the one needing it?
Eighty-nine percent of surveyed adults say that they would be willing to help. But what can the four of you do for the elderly man?
The Red Cross is campaigning to spread the word about CPR. If CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) were to be taught in elementary school, our kids would know it like the characters on Yo Gabba Gabba. Even the teenagers in the above scenario would be able to help out.
But the face of CPR is changing. There is a difference between the regular, hands only CPR we normally see on TV and what is called full CPR. Say that you are a health professional on your way to work in the story above. Even if you do know CPR, you might not know enough.
Here is a video from the American Red Cross discussing the issue on October 20th, 2010.
In a statement released on October 21st, 2010, the Red Cross further explained:
“While we support the use of the hands-only technique by bystanders, full CPR with chest compressions and rescue breaths is still best for many people, including children, adolescents, drowning victims, or people who collapse due to breathing problems. Health care professionals, such as doctors, nurses, paramedics, EMTs and workplace responders should continue to be certified in full CPR.”
The Red Cross has also stated that they do not intend to make any “substantial” changes to their current CPR guidelines.
Related articles
- Red Cross CPR – Learn the new “Hands-Only” Technique (suite101.com)
- CPR guidelines updated to hands-only (philly.com)
- Chest compressions ‘vital’ in CPR (bbc.co.uk)
- New CPR Guidelines is Hands Only – Use “CAB” Instead of “ABC” While Singing “Stayin’ Alive” (casesblog.blogspot.com)
- 3-phase model of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (cardiophile.org)
- News aout cardiopulmonary resuscitation – Putian, Fujian, China (travelpod.com)
- New 2010 European Resuscitation Council Guidelines published (eurekalert.org)
- “AHA Unveils 2010 CPR Guidelines” and related posts (afludiary.blogspot.com)
- CPR Guidelines Simplified Again, Reports the Harvard Health Letter (prweb.com)
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