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As a middle-aged American, I recently decided to become CPR-certified along with my wife. We took the Red Cross Adult CPR course in a community near our home. The cost was $45/each and took 4 hours. It was very thorough, and I left the course confident that I might well be able to save someone’s life if they were in cardiac arrest and had stopped breathing.
We were given a small Red Cross packet that attaches to our keychain, which contains a pair of thin latex gloves and what’s called a Breathing Barrier, which I will explain in a moment.
A photo of the packet attached to my keychain is shown below.
On the news a few days ago, there was an announcement that citizens who find someone that needs CPR no longer should bother with mouth to mouth respiration (blowing your breath into their lungs). The reason for this seems to be that most everyone is a bit squeamish about putting their mouth on the mouth of a stranger, even if it means saving their life. Who can blame them? I would feel the same way. Who knows what infectious disease they might have?
So, anyway, the recommendation is now that you should just perform pressure on the heart, which means pushing down on the sternum (breastbone) 30 times in about 20 seconds, about 2″ deep. Not mentioned is that you will hear the bones crack, because that much pressure will break the cartilage that attaches the ribs to the sternum. Some doctors say that if you don’t crack the ribs that way, you are not pushing hard enough.
I guess they figure that it will be better if you do something, i.e., the short pushes on the heart, rather than do nothing because you don’t want to put your mouth on theirs. They mentioned that the victim will likely have some gasping for breath and that will put some air in the lungs. That is correct of course, but the reason for the gasping is that the diaphragm is desperately trying to make the victim breathe because the brain is becoming starved for oxygen.
You can do what they say, but there is an alternative: Get one of these Red Cross packets for yourself. It can be purchased from the Red Cross for about $5 here:
It has some gloves so you don’t have to get someone’s blood on your hands, but just as important, it has a breathing barrier, which you lay across the victim’s face, and there is a little filter where the mouth is. That lets you blow air into his/her mouth without your mouth actually touching their skin. It also covers their face. I imagine it is not totally a barrier to bacteria or whatever, but it sure is something that will make you feel a lot more comfortable about being 1″ away from a stranger’s face and mouth.
The idea is that you first check to see if they are unconscious, and if so, tell someone to call 911, then give two “Rescue Breaths” once you get the barrier onto their face, then remove the barrier so they can breathe, and then start the heart pressure movements. Thirty presses, then put the barrier back on, two breaths about 1 second each, then 30 more heart presses. Repeat until the ambulance arrives.
Some people are also afraid of lawsuits. Well, legislation was passed called the “Good Samaritan Law“. This means you can help someone in good faith, and not be sued, as long as you are helping them without any expectation of compensation. If they are conscious, you must ask them if you can help them. If they say, “No,” then of course, you can’t help them directly, but you can still call 911. Otherwise, if they are unconscious, it is implied that you can help. If they are conscious and need their medicine, whatever it is, and you get it for them, you can place it in their hand, but you cannot place it in their mouth. If you put it in their mouth, that is implied as “treating” the victim as a doctor would, and that has legal issues.
So, be a good Audiophile, and save someone’s life if the occasion arises. He/she is very likely to be an audiophile too.
Note: This blog is for entertainment purposes only. The author takes no responsibility for its use for any purpose by anyone under any circumstances.