Introduction
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is the emergency procedure performed on cardiac arrest victims to offer them aid before specialist healthcare professionals arrive. CPR can be performed by all individuals who need these services. The first section of the paper presents the importance of CPR and offers statistics regarding various aspects of cardiac arrest, as well as how many people are usually in danger. The prevalence of these emergency conditions and the underwhelming performance of emergency CPR on the victims is worrying, and there is a need to make improvements.
The second section analyzes the situations when CPR should be performed on victims and offers scenarios that a potential rescuer should be keenly looking for during the process. The third part dwells on the CPR process and offers a step-by-step guide that leads a prospective rescuer through the process to ensure success and restoration of health. The components of a quality CPR are analyzed in the fourth part and emphasized as crucial ingredients for the achievement of the desired outcomes.
The last part is the conclusion, which offers a summary of everything discussed throughout the paper and highlights the important information. This paper presents a holistic analysis of CPR, analyzing various aspects of this emergency intervention and emphasizing the importance of knowledge of CPR for all people.
Importance of CPR
When the heart stops beating, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an immediate, essential life-saving technique. After cardiac arrest, immediate CPR can increase survival rates by a factor of two to three. Worldwide, cardiac arrest kills more people than all forms of cancer combined, including colorectal, breast, prostate, influenza, pneumonia, auto accidents, HIV, guns, and house fires. 436,000 Americans lose their lives to cardiac arrest in a single year (Nolan et al. 752).
Each year, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests take place outside of hospitals (Tsao et al. 127). This illustrates the importance of CPR knowledge not just to healthcare professionals but also to members of the general public. Knowledge of the CPR procedure can enable members of the public to care for the victims of cardiac arrest before healthcare arrives, which can be vital in improving outcomes before these patients are admitted to healthcare centers.
Homes and other residential settings account for the majority of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) (73.4%), followed by public places (16.3%) and nursing facilities (10.3%) (American Heart Association). If CPR is started right away, the likelihood of surviving a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital can be increased by two to three times (American Heart Association). This illustrates why CPR should be treated as a basic life skill and why everybody should be knowledgeable about it.
However, only around 40% of persons who suffer from an OHCA receive the prompt assistance they require before the arrival of expert support. According to the 2023 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 40.2% of the more than 356,000 OHCAs received bystander CPR (Tsao et al. 133). The figure is low, and there is a need to increase CPR awareness so that all the patients who experience cardiac arrest outside the hospital have a decent chance of survival.
When to Perform CPR
If someone’s breathing or heart stops during an emergency, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can help preserve their life. When the heart stops beating and supplying blood to the rest of the body, vital organs such as the brain are deprived of oxygen. Other body parts are also deprived of oxygen and nutrients, and toxic wastes accumulate.
All these outcomes of a cardiac arrest have the possibility of causing death if not handled urgently through the administration of CPR. Chest compressions are used during CPR to simulate the heart’s pumping function. The body’s regular circulation of blood is aided by these compressions. A heart attack happens when the heart’s blood flow is interrupted.
One can still communicate and breathe while experiencing a heart attack. Even though this person doesn’t need CPR, they still need to be taken right away to the hospital. After a cardiac arrest, a heart attack is more likely to occur. With a few slight variations, CPR can be administered to persons of various ages, including infants and adults.
Step 1
Before performing CPR in a workplace or public space, it is vital to first contact healthcare professionals so they can offer specialized aid to the patients. Every country has its emergency number for emergency healthcare services. In the US, this number is 911, and it is vital to contact this number before embarking on CPR since CPR is a first-aid service in itself and not a definitive intervention for combating cardiac arrest (Moscarelli et al. 2418). After contacting the emergency healthcare number, one should deliver CPR until the healthcare workers arrive. This will enhance the patient’s chances of survival.
Step 2
In the second stage, the individual’s respiration and pulse are checked. Breathing is assessed in three ways: looking, listening, and feeling. A person offering CPR should check for chest movement to ascertain breathing and listen for breathing sounds by placing their ear at the patient’s nostrils. Feeling the warmth of the person’s breath on the cheek is the third way of assessing breathing (Moscarelli et al. 2418).
The pulse of the person should be checked by placing two fingers on the neck and feeling the carotid pulse. Additionally, the radial pulse can be felt on the thumb side of the wrist. If breathing and pulse are absent or weak after checking them as outlined above, the person must continue with the next steps of CPR.
Step 3
If a person has breathing difficulties, the rescuer performing the CPR should administer chest compressions at the rate of 100-120 compressions per minute. The chest compressions should be counted loudly when performed, and it is vital that the rescuer times themselves to ensure they perform a sufficient number of compressions. The rescuer should continue performing the compressions until help arrives, the patient starts breathing independently, and the pulse improves. The chest compressions done during CPR are vital in ensuring circulation is restored in the body by filling the heart with blood and stimulating it to pump blood to other parts of the body.
For an adult, chest compressions should be performed with both hands, with one palm being placed on top of the dorsum of the other. The palm should be placed on the body of the sternum of the victim. This ensures the heart is pressed for the restoration of its core function of pumping blood.
The chest compressions should be occasionally interrupted with rescue breaths when the victim cannot breathe. The rescue breaths should be offered at the rate of 30 compressions to 2 rescue breaths. The rescue breaths should be administered when the victim is lying on their back and the rescuer is standing or kneeling on their side (Mędrzycka-Dąbrowska et al. 1). The rescuer should take a deep breath before administering the rescue breath to patient.
Step 4
If a patient being rescued during CPR begins vomiting, the person administering first aid should turn the patient to their side to prevent the potential of choking. The vomit is subsequently expelled away from the body of the victim, and this protects their airway from being closed by the vomit. Gentle tapping over the back of the victim helps expel the rest of the swallowed materials that require expelling. The protection of the airway is paramount during CPR because, without a patent airway, an individual is likely to encounter oxygen deficiencies during the process (Moscarelli et al. 2420). After helping the patient expel the contents, a rescuer can continue performing CPR if the patient does not recover independent breathing, if the pulse does not improve, or if medical aid does not arrive.
Step 5
If a patient recovers breathing normally and their pulse improves, becomes stronger, or achieves the standard number for their age, the rescuer is required to stay with them until help arrives. During this period, the rescuer is required to monitor the patient’s breathing so that it remains within the standard numbers (Moscarelli et al. 2422). The rescuer can additionally monitor the patient’s pulse of the patient to ensure it is within the required ranges for the various age groups and retains normal strength. This ensures that the patient does not undergo a subsequent cardiac arrest alone and that they have ready help should this happen.
High-Quality CPR
High-quality CPR has five crucial components and can be performed by anyone, including bystanders. First, it should minimize interruptions between the compressions, ensuring they are sufficient to offer the victim a chance to recover normal function.
Second, compressions should be offered at a sufficient rate and depth. The depth of CPR compressions should be equivalent to two-thirds the diameter between the chest and the back of the patient (Abelsson and Nygårdh 4). The rate of the compressions should range between 100 and 120 per minute for adults and about 60 for infants needing the intervention. The interruptions to offer the rescue breaths should be appropriate for the various ages, with adults needing two rescue breaths for every 30 compressions.
The rescuer must also avoid leaning on the victim during CPR, as this causes additional pressure on an already stressed body. Proper hand placement, as described above, is also vital in ensuring the heart is pressed adequately. The fifth component of high-quality CPR is avoiding extreme ventilation, which would make the restoration of normal breathing difficult.
Conclusion
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a vital first-aid procedure that every person should be versed in due to the possibility of the occurrence of cardiac arrest in all places. Heart attacks occur in workplaces, schools, and on the streets, and CPR can triple the chances of survival if administered promptly. CPR should be administered after contacting emergency healthcare services, whose timely response offers specialized healthcare services. CPR chiefly involves chest compressions and rescue breaths at a favorable rate, and care must be taken to ensure the intervention retains quality and that outcomes are desirable.
Works Cited
Abelsson, Anna, and Annette Nygårdh. “To Enhance the Quality of CPR Performed by Youth Layman.” International Journal of Emergency Medicine, vol. 12, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1–6, Web.
American Heart Association. “Out-of-Hospital Chain of Survival.” Cpr.heart.org, 2019, Web.
Mędrzycka-Dąbrowska, Wioletta, et al. “Prone Ventilation of Critically Ill Adults with COVID-19: How to Perform CPR in Cardiac Arrest?” Critical Care, vol. 24, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1–2, Web.
Moscarelli, Alessandra, et al. “Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Prone Position: A Scoping Review.” The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, vol. 38, no. 11, 2020, pp. 2416–2424, Web.
Nolan, Jerry P., et al. “Cardiac Arrest and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Outcome Reports: Update of the Utstein Resuscitation Registry Template for In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Consensus Report from a Task Force of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (American Heart Association, European Resuscitation Council, Australian and New Zealand Council on Resuscitation, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, InterAmerican Heart Foundation, Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa, Resuscitation Council of Asia).” Circulation, vol. 140, no. 18, 29 Oct. 2019, pp. 746–757, Web.
Tsao, Connie W., et al. “Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2023 Update: A Report from the American Heart Association.” Circulation, vol. 147, 25 Jan. 2023, pp. 93–161, Web.