CPR Compressions in First Aid

The technique you use to apply your CPR Compressions in First Aid is another very important aspect when it comes to saving life.

As outlined in the previous blog it is important to start with two rescue breaths and then we move up to commence CPR Compressions.

Timing is all important here. We no longer check for pulse nor do we caliper or measure the sternum. It has been found to be preferable to get straight onto the CPR Compressions.

Where then should you place your hands.?

The ruling is that you place the heel of your hand in the centre of the chest between the nipples.

Hey - sorry guys but that had to have been dreamed up by a man. Based on that instruction have you got any idea where your hand would be if you had to CPR my old Aunt Mary?

What the ruling should say is that you place the heel of your hand in the centre of the chest between where the nipples were when you were born. Now we are talking...

Place your other hand on top of the first one by grasping the wrist of the bottom hand.

Place yourself close enough to the body so that your bottom hand is directly lined up under your shoulder.

Lock your elbows - no bent arms in CPR Compressions.

If you are too far away your arms will be at an angle and you will not be able to compress efficiently as you will be rocking and that is wrong wrong wrong.

Once you have yourself set in place (in reality this should only take a few seconds)
you compress the chest about one third of its depth at the rate of about 1.75 to 2 compressions in a second. Yes that is fast. Whatever you do, do not be tempted to compromise the effectiveness of your pump by going faster than your strength allows you. You must depress that one third of the chest depth. Surface pumping does nothing.

What you are doing here is pumping the blood out of the heart - it goes out to the lungs, collects some oxygen, returns to the heart and you pump it all around the body. Yes you are a manual pump.

Give thirty pumps then two rescue breaths and continue until the casualty starts breathing, you get too puffed out, an ambulance arrives and is ready to take over, a Doctor of Medicine pronounces the casualty very extremely dead or the situation becomes too dangerous for you.

Keep the time delay between pumping, breathing and pumping again to an absolute minimum. If you take too long to get up to breath and back you are losing compression in the blood vessels. You will either be less effective or ineffective.

The above applies to 9 yrs old and over

For 1 yr to 8 yrs of age - exactly the same technique except of course you may elect to use one or two hands. In either case you still depress one third of the chest depth and follow the rescue breathing and head tilt for this age group as outlined in the previous post.

Infants - same rate 2 breaths and thirty compressions. Now you use two fingers but still depress one third of the infants chest depth. Remember - no head tilt.

Next blog we will discuss your Emergency Action Plan