Do you know CPR?

[HotI]

Also, they now recommend if you have two people to have the first person doing both breaths and compression for 2 minutes (about 4 cycles of 30 compressions and 2 breaths), and then the second person does it for 2 minutes and you keep taking turns until 1) the person starts breathing or 2) help arrives.

Bit of trivia: Do you know why they call the resusc dolls Annie?

[ubba82]

I have done a paediatric first aid/CPR course and a regular level 2 first aid. The paediatric one was run by an ambo and the level 2 one was run by a TAFE trainer.

I found the paed course to be much more benificial - maybe it was the trainer. The ambo tod us that in a time of panic, sometimes you can forget what the ratio is so it is better to keep the heart beating.

I don't know why they call the dolls annie - but I heard they took the moulding of a 'Jane Doe' found drowned in a river in France. Don't know if this is true .....

[Laranna]

Also, if anyone is keen, the St John Ambulance website as a "crash course" in first aid. This DOES NOT act as a substitution for a full proper first aid course, but it will give you the basic idea of what to do if you need to help someone.

[bon]

A CPR course at QLD Ambulance is only $55 or thereabouts and only takes 3 hrs to do. Senior First Aid (which includes CPR) cost more - around $120, and takes two days to do.

I only recently did my refresher CPR. They say don't check for pulse - it can take too long to do, wasting precious time, and on its own doesn't really mean much, especially as you are not likely to know what their normal resting pulse is, meaning you don't have a base reading to go off. If a person is non-responsive and not breathing (which you can tell by observing their chest and by listening for breathing sounds), then get straight into CPR. If a person is non-responsive but is breathing, then you roll them into the recovery position and you can then do a pulse if you want - and pass that info onto the ambos when they arrive.

[Nai]

I'm doing my first aid course at work tomorrow so I'll let you know what they say (and if I can get down on the floor and up again with this belly )

[Heaven]

lol Nai omg good luck!! I wouldn't be able to do it.

[Cassius2]

i can highly recommend these courses. i had to use my skills for DD when she was 4 weeks old.

the new thing i learnt from the session we organised through our mothers group was that you no longer check for a pulse. like Bon mentioned, it is highly inaccurate and if a person is not conscious, their heartrate is low anyway. also the trainer mentioned that many people find a pulse on a person who has died as they are feeling their own...

other interesting tid bits that i learnt was that it is not considered necessary with an adult to do the breaths. that in times of extreme emergency it is best to keep with the heart compressions.
BUT with kids you do do the breaths. and to not stop your CPR with a child, try to get someone else to do the calling for the ambos or bring the child to the phone with you.

one thing i was not prepared for was how hard it was to keep up with the compressions. it was exhausting!

[sweetpea678]

Nai, i am sure you will be fine tommorrow, I was still training cpr at 35+ weeks preg went on mat leave just before 37 weeks. It is a great skill to learn.

[Floweryfields]

Something that might be worth a mention seeing as there are a lot of pregas girls around here- if you are doing CPR on a pregnant woman, you need to put something like a cushion under her right butt cheek to alleviate pressure on the large blood vessel that supplies oxygen to the uterus.

[bon]

An interesting thing to note, with regards to not needing to do the breaths - the ambo who ran our course said that that was a new thing coming out of the US - that you do not need to do the breaths when doing CPR if you don't want to. But the reason this came about was because a study done in America found that many people were reluctant to help in an emergency and perform CPR on a person because they did not want to put their mouth on another person's mouth. So basically there was an 'ick' factor. So because in any emergency it is always better to do something, anything rather than do nothing, they started telling people that as long as they do the compressions, that is enough. However, it has been shown that the breaths are important - doing the breaths as well as compressions gives a better chance of recovery than doing the compressions alone. So to give a person the best chance at recovery - you need to do the breaths.

[nagromeyk]

DH told me 30 compressions to 2 breaths.

Yep thats right - has recently been changed due to, as someone else said, making it easy for people to remember.

I had to renew my CPR in July last year (work in the fitness industry) when I was 36 weeks pregnant, tell ya what it was hard blowing into a manequin!

The guy we had was really good and said to stop if I got the slightest bit of a head rush hehe

[hocus pocus]

As an ex Emergency RN the most important thing you can do for anyone is simply give something a go. Even if you arent sure you are doing it 100%, its going to be better than nothing at all.

Dont get too caught up in the 30:2. Its a good guideline but i can assure you that when you are in a real life arrest, counting may be something that may not come to you, or you may get confused about what the correct ration is. Just do compressions and breaths as much as you can manage. And you WILL get tired. Get someone in to assist you and take over from you at regular intervals. A tired person will not effectively give CPR. Don't be afraid to admit that you are tired and need help. Its hard work and very different on a human body.

And spot on about chocking up the side of a pregnant woman. The same can be applied if you happen to come across a pregnant lady who has collapsed etc. Place a pillow or similar under her right hip so that her belly moves to the left, or you can physically pull the belly over to the left.

Great thread with loads of useful info for all. Its never too late to learn basic life support. You never know when you may need to help someone.

Hopefully no one ever needs to use the skills