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

New Delhi, June 11, 2016: Sudden cardiac arrest is the number one killer in India taking an estimated 25 lakh 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 countryhas been training people in this life-saving technique for over two years now. It has successfully trained over 1,50,000 people till now in Delhi NCR itself including 100% of the Delhi Police PCR van staff. The NGO 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.

Educating the public, Padma Shri Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal - President of Heart Care Foundation of India and Honorary Secretary General of IMA said, “The hands only CPR 10 mantra is extremely simple to rememeber 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.”

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. 

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