CPR

CPR

1. CPR – or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation – is an emergency lifesaving procedure performed when the heart stops beating. Immediate CPR can double or triple chances of survival after cardiac arrest.

   • CPR alone is unlikely to restart the heart. Its main purpose is to restore partial flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and heart. The objective is to delay tissue death and to extend the brief window of opportunity for a successful resuscitation without permanent brain damage.
     • Contraindications
       • The only absolute contraindication to CPR is a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order or other advanced directive indicating a person’s desire to not be resuscitated in the event of cardiac arrest. A relative contraindication to performing CPR is if a clinician justifiably feels that the intervention would be medically futile.
     • Application moments
       • If an unresponsive adult has been a victim of near-drowning, trauma, or drug overdose

2. History

   • The origins of the cardiopulmonary resuscitacion date all the way to the 1700s. Even though CPR as we know it today was not formalized until the 1950-1960s, the beginnings of resuscitation were being taught as far back as the late 1700s in Amsterdam. . In the late1800s a doctor named Friedrich Mass is reported to have used and documented the first effective and successful external chest compression technique on a human being. The next major steps came in the 1950s when James Elam and Peter Safar invented mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. This led to the United States military officially recognizing and adopting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as the methodology by which to bring about an unresponsive victim. Finally in 1960, the American Heart Association started a program to train doctors on CPR techniques which then started the beginnings of training for the public at large in cardiopulmonary resuscitation

3. Process

   • 1. Call 911 or ask someone else to.
     • 2.Lay the person on their back and open their airway.
       • 3. Check for breathing. If they are not breathing, start CPR.
         • 4. Perform 30 chest compressions.
           • 5. Perform two rescue breaths
             • 6. Repeat until an ambulance or automated external defibrillator (AED) arrives.