CPR 2020 Guideline and 2 CPR Alternatives

One day you are walking alone on a street, sipping from a paper cup of hot hazelnut latte. Its raining at 11 PM summer night. Holding your umbrella tight hoping that it would not fly away with that strong wind. Suddenly you hear a loud bang from nowhere..BANGG! you shrud, realizing it was a gunshot.   From a distance, you see someone is walking slowly towards you, shocked, trying to move your feet but it just numb, nailed to the ground. It’s a man..in pain, he is breathing fast and heavy. As he moves nearer to you, you realize, his white shirt has turned to a red river valley, his mouth too covered with blood. He tries to reach you with his hand out in the air, collapsed.

You run toward him, not breathing anymore..

In this situation, are you going to do CPR on this guy, knowing that he is a stranger with blood coming out from his mouth?

According to AHA guidelines, as a first aider or layperson, there are 2 alternatives for you to save the victim without putting yourself at risk of getting any infected disease. First, you can do hands-only CPR technique. In this technique, the rescuer only need to do the emergency call, clear the danger, check the response on the shoulder of the victim and start chest compression continuously at the center of the chest after you are confirmed that there is no breathing shown. For this technique, you don’t need to give rescue breathing, only chest compression until the ambulance arrives or the victim revives.

The second technique is by using CPR barrier. Two types of CPR barrier, a pocket mask or face shield. Both can be used to ensure nothing transferred to you while giving rescue breathing. These two barriers have a one way valve meaning whatever goes In would not come out. The pocket mask or the face shield need to be put on the victim face before giving rescue breathing. Use C-E grip technique while using the pocket mask.

The latest guideline from AHA 2020, DRCAB still steps on how to do CPR, applies to first aider and layperson.

D- DANGER- remove the danger, if you cannot remove the danger, remove the victim, or else, remove yourself. Even though is sounds a bit selfish but it is actually to avoid you from being the next victim.

R- RESPONSE-check for response by tapping the victim s shoulders, if no response, shout for help and ask the bystander to call 999, get you and AED if there is AED available at the scene, and report back the status to you. Check for chest movement, if there is no movement on the chest, means the victim is no longer breathing. Proceed with next step.

C- CHEST COMPRESSION- do not open the victim cloth, just assume there is a straight line on the victim chest, and push downward between the nipples. 30 times, with 2 inch depth. Make sure your elbows are lock and straight. Interlock your fingers.

A- AIRWAY- for this method, you need to open the victim s airway by using head-tilt-chin-lift method. Pinch the victim’s nose

B- BREATHING- give 2 mouth to mouth rescue breathing to the victim, make sure the chest rise when breath given and falls before you give second breathing

Repeat the steps from chest compression if the victim is still not revived.