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Cardiac Resuscitation

According to the American Heart Association, 330,000 deaths each year are due to coronary heart disease. If a person suffers a heart attack and someone is there to perform cardiac resuscitation, this could save the individual's life.

  1. Definition

    • Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is done on an individual who has collapsed, has no pulse and is not breathing. This often is caused by a heart attack.

    Training

    • An individual can receive training on how to perform CPR from a local hospital, school or community center or online. Certification cards are issued upon completion of training and are typically valid for two years.

    Purpose

    • The purpose of cardiac resuscitation is to keep the blood circulating throughout the body and to provide oxygen to prevent brain damage or death.

    Procedure

    • As of 2005, the American Heart Association's new guidelines for chest compressions and rescue breathing state that the resuscitator should give 100 chest compressions a minute to the victim. The compressions should be done fast and hard. Chest compressions and rescue breathing are done at a ratio of 30 chest compressions to two rescue breaths.

    Warning

    • It is best to keep chest compressions going until medical responders arrive, because as long as compressions are occurring, blood is flowing through the body to the organs.

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