Forbes.com is reporting that the American Heart Association has released new, simpler guidelines for CPR training. From the article:
The chances that a victim of cardiac arrest will be successfully resuscitated and go on to live a normal life range from two percent to 70 percent in the United States and Canada, depending on location.
Overall, the guidelines — which urge laypeople to take a CPR course — emphasize a “back-to-basics” approach.
“The most common reason people die is because no one nearby knew CPR or didn’t actually do it after cardiac arrest happened,” said Dr. Michael Sayre, volunteer chairman of the American Heart Association’s basic life support subcommittee, and associate professor of emergency medicine at Ohio State University.
“One of the reasons for that is the skill has been very complicated,” he added. “We believe that the first step towards bystanders taking action is to improve the accessibility and quality of CPR training and to simplify instructions.”
The biggest change is in the ratio of chest compressions to breaths, which under the new guidelines is now 30 compressions for every two breaths, compared to 15 compressions for every two rescue breaths in the 2000 guidelines.
Other recommendations include training 911 dispatchers to provide CPR instructions by phone.
At its most basic level, the American Heart Association guidelines urge more people to learn CPR.
“We’re stressing the importance of the public taking CPR classes,” [Dr. Robert O’Connor, Vice Chairman of the American Heart Association’s emergency cardiac care committee -ed.] said.
The article from Forbes.com…
The guidelines…
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