CPR Training Quick Help Guide

The letters in the very well known acronym "CPR" stand for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. Cardio is another word for heart, Pulmonary is lungs and Resuscitation means bring to life. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is when a combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions is delivered to a victim thought to be in cardiac arrest. When cardiac arrest occurs, the heart stops pumping blood. CPR can support a small amount of blood flow to the heart and brain to 'buy time' until normal heart function is restored.
 

---

CPR is an emergency first aid skill that you can use to help a person who has collapsed and has stopped breathing and the heart has, in all     probability, stopped beating or will soon stop beating. This condition is known as cardiac arrest.

When cardiac arrest occurs, the heart stops pumping blood throughout the body. Blood contains oxygen. When this happens; the casualty is has sustained "clinical death". If the brain does not receive oxygen for a period of 4-6 minutes, the brain cells may start dying. At the 10 minutes mark, the death of these cells could receive irreversible brain damage and this is called  "biological death".

---

There are between 35,000 and 45,000 cases of cardiac arrest every year in Canada. The Ontario statistics are 6,500 to 7,000 cardiac arrests annually

---

In 2005, the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) published new CPR guidelines. The primary goal of these guidelines was to simplify CPR for lay rescuers and healthcare providers alike, to maximize the potential for early resuscitation.

 The important changes were:

• A universal compression to ventilation ratio of 30:2.
• Removal of emphasis on lay rescuers assessing for pulse or signs of circulation
• The removal of the protocol by which lay rescuers provided rescue breathing without chest compressions
• Not teaching modified jaw thrusts to lay rescuers in a suspected spinal injury
   

---

Once the heart stops pumping, seconds count. A person’s chance to survive drops by about 10 % every minute. If you know CPR, the odds of survival may increase by 30 % or more. Since most cardiac arrests happen at home, you could be saving the life of a friend or a member of your family.

Take a CPR course now. The new CPR guidelines have made it easy to learn CPR.

---

Absolutely, we do on-site training for groups of 8 or more.  On-site courses have a distinct advantage in the sense that we can focus the training to fit your particular needs.  Contact us for further information.

---

An AED  (Automated External Defibrillator) is a machine that can monitor heart rhythms and can deliver an electric shock that may convert an ineffective rhythm.  The machine has audio and visual prompts to the rescuer, which are easy to follow.

Studies show that use of AED can increase, from 5% to up to 40%, the proportion of people who survive a cardiac arrest. AEDs are an important link of the Chain of Survival: Early Recognition, Early CPR, Early AED and Early Advanced life support.

In Ontario, you now do not need medical oversight to use an AED. You just need to be trained.

---

There are websites that can guide you in how to do CPR on animals and where you can get this training. In Canada, the focus is still on humans.

---

This is sometimes called "self-CPR". The technique requires a patient to cough when experiencing arrhythmia. This has been used in hospital especially during cardiac catheterization. The patients ECG is monitored continuously and a physician is present and also where CPR is contraindicated. 

Both the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) do NOT endorse "Cough CPR". It is not a form of resuscitation.

---

Visit the HSFC website: www.heartandstroke.ca

---

Note: This information is offered as information only and is designed to promote Health & Safety in the workplace and the community.  It is subject to change.

Strengthen the Chain to Survival