Sunday 19 July 2015

Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation not essential for saving a sudden cardiac arrest victim

Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation not essential for saving a sudden cardiac arrest victim 

Hands only CPR is an effective and easy to learn life-saving technique and it can help revive sudden cardiac arrest patients if administered within the first ten minutes of their death

Sudden cardiac arrest is the number one killer in India taking an estimated 25 lakhs lives annually. According to the data revealed by the Delhi Economical Survey, 150 to 250 deaths happen in the city every single day. Out of these 25 – 45 deaths occur suddenly. With 60% of the people dying before they reach the hospital and the large number of sudden cardiac arrest victims; it is essential that each one of us must know the essential life-saving technique of hands only CPR – 10. A simple and easy to learn technique, Hands only CPR 10 does not require any mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and can be performed by anyone.

Heart Care Foundation of India, a non-profit organization working towards raising health awareness in the country has been training people in this life-saving technique for over two years now. It has successfully trained over 1,20,000 people till now in Delhi NCR itself and holds three Limca Book of World Records for the maximum number of people trained at a time, at the same place and in an hour. The NGO has now joined hands with the Indian Medical Association, Delhi Red Cross Society and Delhi Police to train 100% of the Delhi Police PCR van staff on the life-saving technique of hands only CPR 10 by Independence Day 2015. Given the shortage of ambulances in the city and the Delhi Police PCR vans being the first to reach an emergency site, with this training they will now be able to try to revive a sudden cardiac arrest patient till the ambulance arrives.

Addressing the gathering of 269 police men at the IMA today Padma Shri Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal - President of Heart Care Foundation of India and Honorary Secretary General of IMA said that, “The hands only CPR 10 mantra is extremely simple to remember and can help save a person’s life. It does not require mouth-to-mouth breathing unless the victim has died due to drowning or is a small child. What each of us need to remember is that within 10 minutes of death (earlier the better), for a minimum of 10 minutes (the longer the better), compress the center of the chest of the deceased person continuously and effectively with a speed of 10×10 = 100 per minute. Chest compression should be stopped only when the person starts breathing or the ambulance arrives.”

Adding to this, Padma Shri Awardee, Dr A Marthanda Pillai,National President, IMA, said,  “The first few minutes of death of a sudden cardiac arrest victim are crucial since the more time that passes, the lesser the chances of their revival through CPR. One must not waste any time and start chest compressions immediately if the victim has no pulse and is not breathing.”

A sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the electrical conducting system of the heart fails and the heartbeats irregularly and very fast (more than 1000 times, technically called as ventricular fibrillation). Soon after the heart suddenly stops beating and the blood flow to the brain stops. As a result, the person becomes unconscious and stops normal breathing. A cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack, but it may be caused by a heart attack. In most cases, sudden cardiac arrest may be reversible in the first 10 minutes. This is possible because the brain remains alive during this period when the heart and respiration have stopped, a situation called clinical death.

Adding to this, Dr Harish Grover, Dr JC Sobti, Dr Vinay Aggarwal, Dr Dharam Prakash, Dr S N Mishra, Dr D R Rai, Dr R N Tandon and Dr Narendra Saini in a joint statement said, “Hands only CPR is a miracle technique for sudden cardiac arrest victims. The initiative to train each and every Delhi Police PCR van staff is a noble one and can help save hundreds of lives. One must remember that it is important to act quickly for every minute lost reduces the chances of revival by 10%. So, if you wait 5 minutes, the chances of surviving are 50% less. The earlier you give CPR to a person in cardiac arrest, the greater the chance of a successful resuscitation”.

To know more or to organize a training camp in your locality, please call the NGO’s helpline number 9958771177

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