How To Perform Simple Procedures To Save Life During Cardiac Arrest?
The very nature of an emergency is unpredictable and can change in scope and impact. You being prepared and planning is critical to protecting lives, the environment, and property. It can happen anywhere and at any time.
What are the things we need to remember?
Learn them before you need them…
According to health experts, the primary support system of the body is circulation and respiration. We know that without these functions, life cannot be sustained. Basic Life Support (BLS) procedures have been designed to intervene in situations like this. When these systems have been assessed, the need for interventions will support these systems effectively.
Indications for BLS are:
Primary respiratory arrest.
The heart can circulate the blood until all of the oxygen presents in the blood and lungs has been depleted. At which time has vital organs, such as the brain and heart, will cease to function. And the heart will stop beating and will lead to cardiac arrest.
A person will stop breathing (respiratory arrest) for several causes and these include drowning, an object in the airway, suffocation, smoke inhalation, stroke, drug overdose, heart attack, injuries, and coma. And someone needs to address it immediately.
A health care provider or any authorized personnel is the one who performs artificial respiration, the first aid to primary respiratory arrest.
How to do it? Just follow the five steps below.
Artificial Respiration
Artificial respiration can be given even if breathing has not entirely stopped, but is very slow and weak. You should time you’re breathing out with the victim’s breathing in.
Step 1.
A. Lay the victim on his back.
B. Establish unresponsiveness. Is the victim unconscious?
C. Look for chest movement and place your ear to his mouth to check for breathing.
D. You should call for help.
Step 2.
You perform “Chin lift,” If no neck injury is suspected.
A. Tilt the victim’s head to a “sniffing” position (as when you smell a rose) by lifting his neck with one hand while pushing back on his forehead with the other.
B. Pinch the victim’s tongue and chin between your fingers. Wipe any foreign material from his mouth (using your finger and a handkerchief), and see that his tongue has not fallen backward.
Step 3.
Pinch the victim’s nose shut, take a deep breath, place your mouth firmly over his mouth, and give two quick breaths in rapid succession. In children cover both nose and mouth with your mouth.
Step 4.
Remove your mouth from the victim’s face. Look toward his chest so you can observe it fall, and listen to the sound of escaping air. Feel his breath on your face. If you feel none, try exhaling into his mouth again, more vigorously this time. When you observe that his chest still does not rise, the windpipe is obstructed.
If the victim is a child, slap sharply between the shoulders and clear the mouth of any obstructing material. If the victim is an adult, use the Heimlich maneuver.
Step 5.
Continue blowing air into the victim’s lungs every five seconds (twelve to fourteen times a minute) until he resumes normal breathing or until help arrives.
Caution: When giving mouth-to-mouth respiration to infants of very small children, remember that their lung capacity is small. Do not overinflate a child’s lungs. Only empty the air you can hold in your cheeks. Give gentle, small exhalations and watch the child’s chest rise and fall. If the airway is obstructed, hold the child by the feet and gently thump between the shoulder blades.
Primary cardiac arrest.
When the heart stops beating, blood is not circulated. And the oxygen in the blood is used up by the tissues and organs in a matter of seconds. Among the causes for the heart to stop beating are a massive heart attack, fibrillation (twitching) of the ventricles, and is too fast (tachycardia).
The primary essential emergency procedures needed from time to time in rendering first aid to someone injured or seriously ill are outlined below.
Health experts called this procedure the ABCs of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). These include Airway (see that it is open), Breathing (give artificial respiration), Circulation (provide external chest compression).
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
When the heart stops beating, the circulation of blood ceases, and soon thereafter breathing terminates. An emergency measure called cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has saved many lives and is now well established.
Everyone should avail himself of the first opportunity to learn from qualified teachers how to conduct this procedure. Many hospitals, fire departments, and the Philippine Red Cross have training programs for the public in CPR.
An outline of the procedure is given below but does not attempt to provide sufficient details to make the reader an efficient CPR operator.
When two rescuers are available, one can administer artificial respiration while the other carries out heart resuscitation. However, there may be only one rescuer who knows the procedure.
Step 1.
Establish the victim’s unresponsiveness– that he is unconscious: look, listen, feel.
Step 2.
Call for help.
Step 3.
Lay the victim on his back on a firm surface, such as on the floor. His arms should be parallel to his sides, and his head should be slightly lower than his chest.
Note: If there is a possible neck injury, avoid moving the victim’s neck as you position him.
Step 4.
Tilt the victim’s head back, and with one hand behind his neck, raise it upward. This will bring his chin up and open his airway. Clear his mouth of any foreign materials. The ideal head-neck position is “sniffing” (as if smelling a rose).
Step 5.
Give two quick breaths.
Step 6.
Check the victim’s pulse.
Step 7.
In adults, place a finger in the notch at the lower end of the victim’s breastbone. Place the base of one of your palms 1 inch (2.5cm) above the finger in the notch. Now remove the finger from the notch and place that hand on the back of the other hand. Keep your arms straight while kneeling at right angles to the victim.
Step 8.
Push straight down, compressing the chest of an adult 1-1/2 to 2 inches (4cm), smoothly and regularly. Between compressions, keep your hands lightly in contact with his chest (so your fingers are raised off the skin). Give eighty compressions per minute. Your timing will be “one-and,” “two-and”- slightly faster than one second.
Step 9.
After fifteen compressions, lean forward, tip the victim’s head and give him two full breaths in four seconds.
Step 10.
After every minute or two, check the victim’s pulse (preferably in the neck) and breathe for 5 seconds. Look for the rise of the chest, listen to breath sounds, and feel his breath on your face. Start each cycle with two breaths.
Evaluation: If on checking you find that the victim is breathing and has a good pulse, keep checking both periodically, and call for help. If you find only a pulse, then give mouth-to-mouth respiration. If you find no pulse, then start CPR. Continue CPR until help arrives or until you are exhausted. If the victim must be moved, do not stop CPR for more than fifteen seconds.
Caution: For infants and small children, the force of compression should not bruise the heart or fracture the ribs. In babies, the pressure should be gentle, exerted through the tips of the operator’s index and long fingers. In eight to ten-year-olds, apply pressure with the heel of one hand.
Final Thoughts!
Nothing is more paramount than saving a life where you know you have the knowledge to do it because when life ceases there will be no second chance of reviving. A lot of instances happen that emergency situation occurs at home, and it’s very important that when the emergency occurs you take action immediately. One way of helping is to be trained in Basic Life Support while waiting for the Emergency Medical Services in that way you can bridge the gap and perhaps could save a life.
References:
“If others can, why can’t I”
