What Does CPR Stand?
The acronym CPR stands for Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. It is an first aid emergency procedure used to save a person’s life that has a sudden cardiac arrest. It involves rescue breathing and chest compressions to allow oxygenated blood to circulate to vital organs like the brain and heart. Let’s break this down further to understand CPR better.
Cardio: The word “cardio” basically means the heart. Our heart is one of the most critical organs in our bodies. The heart is a powerful muscle found in the chest, which expands and contracts more than 60 times every minute and pumps blood, which is rich in oxygen, from the lungs to the rest of the organs in the body. If the heart stops pumping that all-important oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body, tissue begins to die because the body’s vital organs are being deprived of the oxygen it needs to survive. This can lead to organ malfunction, brain damage, or, in the worst case, death.
Pulmonary: The word “pulmonary” essentially means the lungs. The lungs are as important as the heart because when you take a breath (which you do up to 25 times a minute!), you fill your lungs with much-needed oxygen and that oxygen combines with sugar to fuel your body and its vital organs. Since the tissues in our body do not store much oxygen, they must remain constantly oxygenated.
Resuscitation: The “R” in CPR is the most crucial letter, meaning “resuscitation.” It means bringing someone who is apparently “dead” back to life. It sounds more like a sci-fi movie than it really is. The human body only has a short supply of oxygen once the heart stops and the lungs no longer receive adequate oxygen. Once it runs out of oxygen, cell and tissue damage ensue, leading to brain damage and even death. When resuscitating a victim, it is important to remember that without oxygen, cell and tissue death begins between four and six minutes after being deprived of oxygen.
Why is CPR Important?
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation can be lifesaving. It helps keep the blood circulating and delivers oxygen to the body until treatment from a medical professional is available. There is usually sufficient oxygen in the blood to keep the victim’s brain and other vital organs alive, supported for a few minutes. Still, it is not circulating until someone accomplishes CPR.
Although there is no guarantee that a cardiac arrest victim will survive CPR, it gives the victim a chance. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), cardiopulmonary resuscitation can double or triple the chances of survival after cardiac arrest. Without performing CPR, it will only take a few minutes for the victim’s brain to become injured due to a lack of oxygen.
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Things To Know About CPR
CPR Saves Lives: About 9 in 10 people who have experienced cardiac arrest outside the hospital die. But did you know that CPR can help improve those odds? If CPR is performed immediately and correctly, it can double or triple the chance of survival.
Cardiac arrests often happen at home: According to studies, approximately 350,000 cardiac arrests happen outside hospitals each year. About 7 in 10 of those cases occur at home. Unfortunately, almost half of the victims don’t get the help they need from relatives and bystanders due to a lack of knowledge in CPR. Often, they just wait for the ambulance arrives because they are afraid of the harm or complications of CPR.
When do you give CPR to someone?
CPR should be performed when a victim has suffered a cardiac arrest, caused when the electrical activity in the victim’s heart goes haywire. This causes the heart to stop beating. The point of CPR with cardiac arrest is to physically pump the heart through the chest, causing it to partially restore the flow of oxygenated blood to the brain until the medical emergency team arrives.
A situation in which oxygen may be prevented from reaching the lungs includes:
- Poisoning
- Choking
- Heart attack
- Suffocation
- Drowning
- Electric shock
- Ventricular fibrillation (in which the heart’s rhythm goes awry)
What happens during CPR?
During the CPR procedure, a person initiates a series of steps to help the victim’s blood continue circulating and maintain oxygen levels in the victim’s body. The procedure includes rescue breathing into the victim’s lungs and compressing the victim’s chest. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation works on the principle of 30 chest compressions and two ventilation breaths, known as 30:2
How to Perform CPR?
Many people outside the medical field do not know what are the 7 steps of CPR. According to the British Heart Foundation, nearly 10,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims die each year due to a lack of knowledge about what to do if someone is found unconscious. That’s why learning how to do CPR, and other lifesaving techniques are essential in the community to increase the survival rate.
Here are the proper steps that should be followed when performing CPR:
- Call the emergency hotline immediately– If the victim is not breathing, get someone to call 911 and look for an automated external defibrillator external icon (AED) while you begin CPR. If there are no other people in the area, you need to contact 911 first before starting CPR.
- Push the chest as hard as you can– Place the victim on a firm, flat surface. Then push down the center of the chest at a rate of 100 to 120 per minute. Let the chest rise to its normal position after each compression. The American Heart Association recommends timing the pushes to the beat of the song “Stayin’ Alive.” This method is called hands-only CPR and does not involve mouth-to-mouth breaths. But if the victim has a pulse but not breathing, respiratory arrest artificial ventilation may be more appropriate.
- Give rescue breathing if necessary– If the victim needs initial rescue breath or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, open their airway by tilting back their head and lifting the chin. Then pinch the soft part of the nose to avoid air from escaping. Do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation at a steady rate. The person’s chest should rise and fall when you take your mouth away. Second rescue breath must be given before doing 30 more chest compressions to restore blood flow.
- Keep repeating the CPR steps until you see obvious signs of life or until emergency medical personnel arrives.
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Are You Ready to Do CPR?
Today, CPR learning is essential for everyone, including non-healthcare professionals like teachers, coaches, personal trainers, daycare workers, babysitters, construction workers, etc. By knowing how to provide CPR, one can save a life! And, since over 80% of people will experience sudden out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, by providing CPR, you can restore up to 40% of the average circulation that has stopped, giving your loved one or a perfect stranger a greater chance at survival.
Online CPR certification and re-certification are available through CPR Select’s convenient, flexible live classes. We follow the current guidelines of the American Heart Association for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. We also have CPR practice test (20 questions) to test your knowledge in performing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q1. What does CPR stand for?
Ans: CPR Stands for Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation.
Q2. Why CPR is Important?
Ans: CPR helps keep the blood circulating and delivers oxygen to the body until treatment from a medical professional is available. There is usually sufficient oxygen in the blood to keep the victim’s brain and other vital organs alive, supported for a few minutes. Still, it is not circulating until someone accomplishes CPR.
Q3. What does CAB stand for in CPR?
Ans: CAB in CPR Stands for Circulation, Airway, and Breathing.
Key Takeaway:
- The word “cardio” basically means the heart.
- The word “pulmonary” essentially means the lungs.
- “Resuscitation” means bringing someone who is apparently “dead” back to life.
- CPR helps keep the blood circulating and delivers oxygen to the body until treatment from a medical professional is available.
- If CPR is performed immediately and correctly, it can double or triple the chance of survival.
