Know how to perform CPR and save a life

Had singer KK received cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR on time, he could have been saved, as per a medical expert cited by media reports. The sudden demise of the popular singer due to a cardiac arrest has steered attention towards what lack of awareness about signs and symptoms of a heart issue and how to do CPR can lead to.

What is CPR?

It is an emergency procedure which combines chest compressions with artificial ventilation. This is done in order to preserve an intact brain function until medical assistance is around to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who has suffered from a cardiac arrest.

“CPR or is a very simple procedure if you are trained on it or know how to do it. It just requires you to make the patient lie on a flat surface and give regular compression with the heel of your hands placed one over the other on the center of the chest at a rate of 100-120 beats per minute,” Dr. (Prof.) Mohan Nair, Director and Head – Cardiology, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, told HealthShots.

Also, read: How to prevent heart diseases? 7 tips to follow a heart-healthy lifestyle

How to perform a CPR?

According to American Red Cross, this is how your conduct a CPR:

1. If you are to perform CPR on a person, first check the surroundings for safety and use personal protective equipment (PPE).
2. If the person is unresponsive, check for breathing or any life-threatening bleeding. If the person still does not respond and is not breathing but only gasping, immediately call for medical help or tell someone to do so. 
3. Until then, place the person on their back on a flat surface
4. Next, give 30 chest compressions with two hands centered on the chest. The shoulders should directly be over hands with elbows locked with a rate of 100 to 120 per minutes. Also, allow the chest to return to normal position post each compression.
5. Give 2 mouth-to-mouth breaths after opening the airway to a past-neutral position. Make sure each breath lasts 1 second and make the chest rise. Before giving the next break, allow the air to be exhaled.
6. Repeat the sets of 30 chest compressions and 2 breaths. 

Most people around the patient do not know what to do in such cases and end up panicking. Stressing on the importance of CPR training, Dr Nair added, “Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere and it can affect anybody. So we all need to be trained, apart from just medical personnel, be it policemen, school children, college goers, heads of resident welfare associations, at least for this basic life support procedure.”

“Awareness that if the CPR is not given in under 3 minutes and there is no blood circulation, the patient can die, is highly needed. If CPR or immediate medical help was given to him, there were high chances, though not 100 percent, that he could have been saved.”

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What are the signs and symptoms of a cardiac arrest

Following are the warning signals of a cardiac arrest:

1. Unexplored or unprovoked sweating
2. Squeezing in the chest
3. Chest pain
4. Feeling of faintness

Prevention

“There are protocols when you have these symptoms and it says to stop all activity, and if you can get hold of a chewable Disprin, take a tablet. Always have emergency numbers with you, not just friends or family, but also medical contacts,” according to Dr Nair.

Last but not the least, people after a certain age should be regularly checked for their heart health. The most educated people think that their chest pain might be due to bloating or digestive problems and they take antacids instead. So any warning signs should not be ignored at all.