Why you should know hands-only CPR
Football fans across the nation held their breaths on Jan. 2 when 24-year-old Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed after a tackle and suffered cardiac arrest. (Thankfully, Hamlin was discharged to go home to Buffalo for care a week later.)
It was scary to watch someone in medical distress for nine minutes. Athletic trainer Denny Kellington administered CPR, likely saving Hamlin’s life, and in the days that followed, starting a conversation about why life-saving CPR skills are needed on and off the football field.
In America, 350,000 people die annually from a cardiac arrest, though CPR also is often used in cases of electric shock, severe allergic reaction, drowning, overdose, suffocation and – in Hamlin’s case – blunt force trauma that can cause rhythm irregularities or electrical malfunction of the heart.
While you might never find yourself providing medical assistance on a football field, knowing CPR could still save someone’s life. Research shows that 70% of cardiac arrests happen outside medical facilities and more than 90% of victims die before reaching a hospital. However, CPR within the first five minutes of a cardiac arrest can improve the victim’s chance of survival as much as threefold.
That’s because as more time passes, the more likely the person who suffered cardiac arrest can develop brain damage. But brain damage is unlikely when CPR is administered in four minutes or less, and the survival rate is high. Nearly 45% of cardiac arrest victims have survived when given CPR by a bystander. And maybe, one day, that bystander could be you.
Unfortunately, only about 20% of Americans know how to administer CPR but that can change today. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to perform handsonly CPR (i.e., no mouth-tomouth required):
1. Make sure the setting is safe. Then, tap the person on the shoulder and ask, “Are you OK?” If they don’t respond, call 911 for assistance.
2. Make sure the person is lying on their back. Tilt the head back slightly to lift the chin. Check to see if they are breathing.
3. Start chest compressions by placing both hands in the center of the chest with your shoulders directly over your hands and your elbows locked.
4. Push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of a familiar song that has 100 to 120 beats per minute like “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees.
5. Continue compressions and buy time until professional help arrives.
Don’t forget to refresh your skills periodically with a CPR class or watch tutorial videos like these by the American Heart Association.
The emergency room at Siloam Springs Regional Hospital is here for you and your family 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To learn more about our services, visit NorthwestHealth.com today.