CPR

3 Pages 696 Words

How To Perform Adult CPR

You’re playing your usual weekend basketball game with your friends. Without warning, one of your teammates suddenly drops to the ground. You scream out his name, but there is no response. His face turns pale and bluish, and you can’t see his chest rise and fall to breath. You listen for a heartbeat, but you can’t find a pulse at all. You quickly grab the nearest phone and call 911.
Every year, this type of scenario is played out more than 600 times a day in the United States. Without rapid medical intervention, the prognosis is grim. Cardiopulmonary arrest is the leading cause of death for all adults. Cardiopulmonary arrest means that your heart isn’t beating and you are not breathing. Many different things can lead to cardiopulmonary arrest, including: stroke, drug overdose, near drowning, chocking, blood loss, electric shocks, and many more. Cardiopulmonary arrest is a very dangerous situation. Within 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, your brain cells begin to die off rapidly. Fortunately, modern medicine has come up with a way to combat cardiopulmonary arrest without the use of medical training or complex equipment. This method is called cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). CPR is a first-aid technique used to keep victims of cardiopulmonary arrest alive. CPR has two main goals: keep blood flowing throughout the body and keep air flowing in and out of the lungs.
In you see a person in need of CPR first check if the scene you are in is safe for you and your victim. If the scene isn’t safe then try to make it safe or relocate to a safer area. Also make sure you know how many victims you have and start helping the one who needs it the most. Determine if they are conscious by tapping them and shouting “Are you ok?” If the victim does not respond call for help immediately. While help is on the way carefully lay the victim on his back. Next, you need to check the ABC’s o...