CardioPulmonary Resuscitation (CPR):
As I work in the health sector as a doctor, I'd like to give you some basic but extremely comprehensive information on how to act in a cardiac arrest or cardiorespiratory arrest. This topic can save a life, because you don't need to work in the health sector to start CPR and it's essential that the person closest to you knows how to identify and start the maneuvers, so that's what we're going to talk about today!
What is known as CPR or CardioPulmonary Resuscitation is the name given to the initial maneuvers used to resuscitate a person with a stopped heart. They allow the blood from the heart to continue to be pumped and give the victim a chance of having their body function again with fewer sequelae!
And how do I identify cardiac arrest? It can happen acutely/suddenly (the victim will probably lose consciousness after feeling severe pain) or slowly (the heart starts to show signs of weakness until it actually stops, in which case it can take several minutes before the victim needs CPR). In both cases, your first course of action will always be to lay the victim down on a hard floor and check that they are breathing (see if their lungs are moving or if you feel air coming out when you touch your face to their mouth) and check that their heart is beating (the ideal place to check this is by looking at the artery in their neck, but if you can't find it, check by looking at their wrist).
If both signs are not present, you should immediately call or ask someone to call the emergency medical service in your city. Also ask someone to bring the nearest Automated External Defibrillator (AED) while the ambulance doesn't arrive. During this time, you need to promptly begin resuscitation maneuvers, and how do you do that?
CPR consists of placing your hands one on top of the other, resting the bottom of your palm on the middle of the patient's chest (roughly in line with the nipples) and compressing the chest forcefully at a rate of about 2 compressions per second. It is essential that you do this continuously (you can alternate with other people as it is an extremely exhausting process) until the emergency medical service arrives!
When the AED arrives, immediately place it on the patient's chest as instructed by the device itself and follow the audio instructions! This is very important, as the electric shock greatly increases the chance of saving the patient's life.
Believe it or not, thousands of people could be alive if this knowledge were taught and reinforced in schools, workplaces, colleges... Don't let someone dear to you live less than they should for lack of knowledge, we can all help save a life!
NOTE: This is the official sequence of actions we should take in a cardiac arrest, published by the American Hearth Association and followed worldwide in practically every country!