American Heart Association joins the club: new CPR

Continuous chest compression CPR or hands only CPR is now recommended by the American Heart Association for adults that collapse suddenly, presumably due to cardiac arrest. You can read more about this new, simplified version of CPR in the previous blog post on February 9th and also at this "hand only" CPR website. The following are new guidelines from the the American Heart Association Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee (link to AHA source): [source link]

When an adult suddenly collapses, trained or untrained
bystanders should—at a minimum—activate their community
emergency medical response system (eg, call 911) and
provide high-quality chest compressions by pushing hard and
fast in the center of the chest, minimizing interruptions.

● If a bystander is not trained in CPR, then the bystander
should provide hands-only CPR. The rescuer
should continue hands-only CPR until an automated external
defibrillator arrives and is ready for use or EMS
providers take over care of the victim.

● If a bystander was previously trained in CPR and is
confident in his or her ability to provide rescue breaths
with minimal interruptions in chest compressions, then the
bystander should provide either conventional CPR using a
30:2 compression-to-ventilation ratio or handsonly
CPR. The rescuer should continue CPR until an automated
external defibrillator arrives and is ready for use or EMS
providers take over care of the victim.

● If the bystander was previously trained in CPR but is not
confident in his or her ability to provide conventional CPR
including high-quality chest compressions (ie, compressions
of adequate rate and depth with minimal interruptions)
with rescue breaths, then the bystander should give
hands-only CPR. The rescuer should continue
hands-only CPR until an automated external defibrillator
arrives and is ready for use or EMS providers take over the
care of the victim.

~~BIO26~~