Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a life saving procedure that will revive a person who has suffered a cardiac arrest. Apart from this it can also be used to revive an individual who has stopped breathing. There are various health emergencies when CPR can be effectively used till medical help arrives.
Before you start the process it is very important to ascertain whether the individual still has consciousness. You can try talking to the patient or shake them slowly holding on to the patient shoulders. This will help you know whether the patient requires medical assistance.
Attending CPR classes can be life saving as most of the medical emergencies can happen at home, office or other places where medical services are not readily available. The classes will allow you to practice on dummies so that you become proficient in the procedure.
There are many health care organizations that conduct these classes and attending them can help you save a life. It takes just a few hours to learn all the techniques of performing CPR correctly. The American Red Cross and the American Heart Association offer these training programs all over U.S.
The individual will need to be placed on a firm surface before you can start the process. There are usually two steps of performing the CPR and these would need to be done to help revive a person. It is very important that you call for medical help even if the person is revived.
Top 2 Steps You Will Need To Know About Giving CPR
Mouth to mouth resuscitation is the first step in performing CPR. Close the nostrils of the patient using your fingers. You will need to simultaneously blow air into the patient's mouth by covering theirs with yours completely. Blow a couple of times and see whether the breathing returns to normal.
If the breathing has not returned to normal you will need to start with chest compressions. Place the hand on the chest bone. It should be correctly placed at the line between the nipples. You will need to kneel beside the patient to start the procedure. Place one hand on top of another and push firmly. It would be advisable to give 30 compressions without changing the hand position.
After completing the compression process, you will need to repeat the mouth to mouth resuscitation procedure. You will need to continue with the process till the individual is revived. You will need to stop performing CPR if you see the individual regaining consciousness.
The process of doing CPR on adults and children will differ vastly. You will need to be very careful while applying pressure on a child as even a little bit of extra pressure can cause a lot of damage. When improper compression techniques are used on adults it can cause other medical problems.
If done correctly CPR can definitely be a life saver. You will be able to increase the chances of survival of a patient if you do this life saving process before medical help arrives.
Visit http://www.firstaidweb.com/ to learn more about CPR.
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