Cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Chest compressions
Part of a series of articles on resuscitation.
Chest compressions (demonstrated on a mannequin), a key part of cardiopulmonary resuscitation
SpecialtyCardiology
ICD-999.60
MeSHD016887
OPS-301 code8-771
MedlinePlus000010

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a set of actions that should be done if a person stops breathing, or if their heart stops. The goal of CPR is to force blood and oxygen to keep flowing through the body. Every part of the body needs blood and oxygen to survive. CPR does not start a person's heart again. However, it can keep pushing blood and oxygen around the body long enough that sometimes, it can keep the body from getting damaged by not having enough oxygen.

There are different types of CPR. Regular people, who are not medical professionals, can do these things:

Many medical professionals can also do these things:

Images

Statistics

Time is very important. Each minute that passes before CPR is started lowers the chance of survival by about ten percent. If CPR starts within the first three to five minutes, and a defibrillator is available, the chance of survival can be as high as 50%, or even 75% (That is: one out of two, or three out of four survive). In European countries, emergency services take about eight minutes or more to arrive, once they have been alerted. A victim's survival therefore largely depends on other people who are there and what they do. A quick call to emergency services, and a quick start of basic CPR, especially defibrillation, can double to triple the chance of survival - with adults and children.

References

  1. ↑ Handley AJ, Koster R, Monsieurs K et al.: European Resuscitation Council guidelines for resuscitation 2005. Section 2. Adult basic life support and use of automated external defibrillators. (2005) Resuscitation. 67 Suppl 1:S7-23. PMID 16321717
  2. ↑ Kuisma M, Suominen P, Korpela R: Paediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrests: epidemiology and outcome. Resuscitation (1995) 30:141–150 PMID 8560103

Further reading

Other websites