FIRST AID FOR ABSENCE OF BREATHING AND CONSCIOUSNESS.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of men and women die from sudden cardiac arrest. Among all accidents,
the most common pathologies are of the cardiovascular and respiratory system. To understand how to act in emergency cases, we will analyze the main aspects of the structure and functional relationship between these two systems. We will explain the algorithm of first aid for the injured in the absence of the consciousness and breathing.
Still, I suggest watching a short video before analysis. You just watched a video where a person became ill and grabbed his chest. Probably the cause of his condition was heart problems which led to death. Most of these deaths could have been prevented if cardiopulmonary resuscitation began immediately. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, is a series of measures aimed at restoring the body's function in case of circulatory and respiratory arrest.
CPR consists of two main actions of basic resuscitation measures: 1. Chest compressions, which are necessary to ensure blood flow and 2. artificial respiration for oxygen delivered it to the lungs. You saw in the video the man fell. He lost consciousness and then he stopped breathing. Unfortunately, passers-by were either unable or unwilling to assist the victim. Sudden cardiac arrest has occurred, the stage of clinical death has begun. Clinical death is a potentially reversible cessation of the body. At this stage, we can still save a person, and bring him back to life.
The duration of clinical death under normal conditions is 4-6 minutes. If you do nothing, do not provide first aid, then irreversible changes in the body occur leading to the biological death. It's all up to you. By your actions, you can extend the duration of clinical death by 10, 20, 30 minutes. The main goal is to support the vital functions of the body until the arrival of the ambulance. Let's look at the algorithm of first aid in this situation. What is necessary to do and what should be done to save the victim's life.
Let's have a look at cardiopulmonary resuscitation. When you find the victim, first take care of your: 1) personal safety. Carefully approach a lying person. Ensure that there is no danger to yourself, the victim, or eyewitnesses. Remember the risks of electricity, gas, traffic, collapses, aggressive people, animals, etc. If nothing threatens you, come closer to the victim, 2) kneel down, gently hold him by the shoulders, gently shake and loudly ask in both ears to determine consciousness. "Are you all right? Do you need help?" If the victim responds, leave the body in the same position. Find out what happened to him and regularly evaluate his condition, breathing, and consciousness.
If the victim does not respond then 3) check his breathing. In an unconscious person the tongue may sink backward which impedes the air passage into the lungs. Air way patency can be achieved by straightening the head, lifting the chin, and raising the tongue throughout. To do this, place one palm on the victim's forehead,
wrap his lower jaw with two fingers of your other hand, and carefully tilt the head back. Inspect the oral cavity for foreign objects. Next, bring your ear closer to the victim lips. Observe the chest movement with your eyes and count out aloud to 10.
There are three principles: Watch, for movements of the chest. Listen, breathing of the victim's mouth and feel the breath on your ear and cheek. Wait for 10 seconds to determine if the victim has normal breathing. If within 10 seconds you have not found breathing, you must immediately call an ambulance. If there is an assistant ask
him to call an ambulance at 112. If you are alone then call yourself. When calling the ambulance, you must follow a certain algorithm. Inform the coordinates of the scene, the number of victims, gender, approximate age, the condition of the victim. Report that he's unconscious and not breathing. As soon as the ambulance is called,
immediately start the cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Before conducting the CPR, it is necessary to free the chest from clothing, if possible, unzip it. If not possible, lift the clothing up without squeezing the airways.
Put the base of the one palm on the center of the victim’s chest on the lower half of the sternum. Put the second palm on the first connecting the fingers of both hands into the lock. Be sure not to put pressure on the ribs of the victim. Keep your arms straight do not bend the elbows, stay vertically above the victim’s chest, do not press on the upper abdomen or the lower sternum, compressions should come on the area of the heart.
The heart is located behind the sternum. It is a muscular organ which, while contracting the heart muscle,
it pumps blood through the vessels. While pressuring the chest we also compress the heart. The pressure squeezes the blood out and pushes through the vessels to the organs and most importantly to the brain. Since the brain starts to suffer from a lack of oxygen first, our primary goal is to support the vital functions of the brain.
Perform 30 chest compressions. Count out loud. The compression frequency is 100-120 per minute and the pressure amplitude is 5-6 centimeters.
After 30 compressions perform two artificial breaths from mouth to mouth. During artificial respiration don't
forget to use the protective screen. Put one palm on the victim’s forehead and hold his nose with the first and second fingers. Grab the lower jaw with other hand’s two fingers. Tilt the victims head back opening the airways. Mouth over the victim lips with your lips and blow air into the lungs. Exhale in the victim’s mouth while observing the rise of the chest. The exhalation duration should be about one second. Supporting the extension of the head and the chin lift, remove your mouth from the victim to watch the chest go down. Then perform the second exhale. Immediately restart 30 chest compressions do not interrupt chest compression for more than a few seconds to perform artificial respiration. Follow the CPR at the ratio of 30:2 and stop your assistance only when the ambulance arrives or the victim shows signs of life.
To sum up, you learned how to act in case of sudden cardiac arrest and provide CPR when a victim has no consciousness and breathing. You have met with a clear step-by-step algorithm of actions in the situation, remember in the beginning video, you understand that the person did not get timely and correct first aid, which most likely caused death. In conclusion, have a look at another video that will consider day to day material. You will see the algorithm of first aid for sudden cardiac arrest in a real situation with a favorable outcome for the victim.