New emergency care guidelines for performing CPR

Summarized here for your convenience from Digital Journal : http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/299094

CPR in Canada releases guidelines to 'push fast and push hard'
By KJ Mullins.

Canada released new emergency care guidelines for performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) today in the 2010 Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC).

If you find a person who is collapsed and unresponsive, the first step now is to call 911 (or your local emergency number), and not to delay by 'looking, listening and feeling' for breathing or pulse.

When it comes to CPR be forceful to insure that blood is flowing.

"Think about moving the heel of your hands up and down about two inches (five cm) into the chest - or the height of your pinky finger," says Dr. Travers.

The guidelines are reviewed every five years with updates only when it is clear that changes need to take place in order to save lives.

Today the guideline is to :

1) make the emergency call ; and then
2) push hard before starting rescue breathing.

The speed of getting blood flow back is a significant factor in reducing brain and heart damage following cardiac arrest.

When CPR is performed right away the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest are almost four times greater.

When CPR is combined with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) the odds of survival shot up to 50 percent.

Further reading :
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/10/15/cpr-chest-compression-guidelines-heart.html?ref=rss

http://topnews.co.uk/214725-push-hard-and-push-fast-advisory-issued-aha