Chest Compressions & CPR
By: Gretchen Bolander
Updated: October 21, 2010
"A 50 year old guy comes in on a Saturday night with chest pain. The nurse attaches pads - he's unresponsive, she shocks the guy. He gets transported to the cath lab, gets stents put in and discharged Monday morning." That from Freeman RN Dick Crabill. It's a life saved. But while many people are trained in CPR, not everyone uses it. Said Crabill, "The last research I read said about 20% of people trained in CPR will do it in a public situation. But if you tell them they only have to do chest compressions that ups to almost 50% or better." And that's the good news - that in most cases, chest compressions alone are just as good as compressions and mouth to mouth. Crabill added, "Most of the time the lungs have some air in them - the body's got oxygen already circulating. The problem is the heart is stopped and not circulating the blood to the brain, heart or vital organs. So the important thing is to get on that chest and start doing chest compressions." But there are a few exceptions where mouth to mouth is still important, including young children and drowning victims.
