Nearly 90 percent of those who suffer a heart attack outside of the hospital die, according to the American Heart Association. Grim statistics, indeed. But when cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is performed right away, the victim’s chances of survival can double or triple.
“When a person has a cardiac arrest, survival depends on immediately receiving CPR from someone nearby,” said Ben Beason, Patient Care Manager at Cape Fear Valley Health Cardiac Services.
Beason is on a mission to make sure as many people as possible learn the lifesaving skill. He and his team offer lessons in Hands-Only CPR to the public, and it’s a lot easier than most think.
“Everything you think you know about CPR, forget it,” Beason says. “We don’t want you to perform 15 chest compressions and then breathe into the victim’s airway. It’s really more simple than that.”
All Beason asks you to remember are two important rules:
1. Call for help immediately.
2. Press hard and fast in the center of the chest.
Can it really be that easy?
The short answer is yes.
“It’s not like in the movies,” Beason explains. “You can’t ‘bring back’ a heart attack victim with CPR. It takes medication or electrical shock to bring someone back.”
Instead, what is important is to keep the body alive by starting chest compressions as quickly as possible.
Push hard and fast in the center of the chest. Aim for about 100 to 120 beats per minute. It can help to hum along to a familiar song that fits the beat. As examples, the American Heart Association recommends “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z, “Hips Don’t Lie,” by Shakira or “Walk the Line,” by Johnny Cash.
Beason says that when someone falls, the first 10 minutes are the most important. That’s when you should call 911 and find an automated external defibrillator, or AED, if there is one nearby.
“For every minute that passes, there is a 10 percent less likely chance to bring them back intact,” Beason said.
This is why it is more important to carry on with chest compressions than to stop and breathe into the victim’s airway.
Keeping the blood pumping throughout the victim’s body will keep oxygen circulating and greatly lessen their chances of permanent damage to the heart or brain. Keep the chest compressions going until help arrives.
To see a 90-second video on Hands-Only CPR, visit heart.org/handsonlycpr. To get an in-person lesson, call Beason and his team of lifesavers. They will talk to any size group, and the lessons are free unless you are seeking American Heart Association certification (then there is a small cost due to supplies and education requirements).
“We’re here for the community,” Beason says. “We support Hands-Only CPR training. Anyone who is interested in learning just needs to reach out to Cape Fear Valley Heart and Vascular Center. My staff and I will happily arrange a date, time and location to meet.”
To schedule a lesson, call Ben Beason at (910) 615-8294.
AD COPY – ½ page facing story (other ½ page is Doctor’s Day)
Lifesaving power in your two hands. Learn Hands-Only CPR for free.
Call (910) 615-8294 to arrange for a free group lesson at your business, church or other organization.