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Resuscitation/CPR - New advice in UK - British Heart Foundation

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Mr. X

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There is currently a high-profile ad campaign in the UK ("Heart Start" campaign by the British Heart Association) highlighting new advice on resuscitation:

Vinnie Jones shows how to perform CPR to the sound of Stayin' Alive | Metro.co.uk (The TV ad is shown at the end of the article)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR0aZX1_TD8]Vinnie Jones' hard and fast Hands-only CPR (funny TV advert) - YouTube[/ame]

The longer version points out this is intended for somebody not breathing, having a cardiac arrest:


I believe we have several trained first aiders/medics/physicians/lifeguards on the forums and wonder what they thought of this new advice, especially in the context of freediving/spearing/drowning/SWB (?).
 
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Reactions: jay cluskey and Broseidon
A friend who is a trained first aid instructor (and senior PADI instructor) predicted that this change would be made, 2 or 3 years ago (i.e. that the advice would switch to performing only heart compression, instead of forced breathing & heart compression).

Interesting that the rhythm suggest is now that of the BeeGee's "Staying Alive" (the other one I've heard is "Nellie the Elephant").
 
Personally I'd prefer being resuscitated in this way:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ArXuQwjj7Q]Super Sexy CPR (Original) - YouTube[/ame]
 
Reactions: Mr. X
What the ad doesn't say is , is that this guideline is for people who do not possess any first aid training whatsoever .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The more people are confident in CPR the better.Personaly I would be very hapy to know that all my diving budys woudn't hesitate to step in and do it.
 
And not just dive buddies. At my age, I want everybody around me to know CPR!
 
Mr. X said:
The longer version points out this is intended for somebody not breathing, having a cardiac arrest:
Click to expand...

I'm no medic yet but as you say mr X this is for someone who has had a cardiac arrest; in freediving terms, i wonder whether near drowning/water in the lungs and hypoxia leading to an arrest is more likely. In this case my 'pocketbook of emergency care' says to include rescue breaths before going for help.
Any medics out there who can clarify? i think in our context, the 'kissing' is likely to be correct!?
 
You'd think "clearing the airway" would be quite important in a diving context. I believe there is a reflex which prevents breathing while there is water in the throat.

Oldsarge said:
And not just dive buddies. At my age, I want everybody around me to know CPR!
Click to expand...
Yes, I know what you mean. It bothers me that I am the only member of my family to have trained in this at various times, yet I am probably the most likely to need it! So I am pleased that a simple hard-to-miss advert has been broadcast - something that should encourage anyone and everyone to try, when trained help is not available (I wonder how many people have died unnecessarily in such circumstances?).

A lot of places (including aircraft, my workplace and a local village hall) now have those defibrillator "jump-starter" machines. The one we have is excellent, it is simple to use, has simple diagrams on it and it talks you through the process -- it also has built in safety measures to help prevent improper use (e.g. it stops you trying to re-start a beating heart). We have to train to use it -- but the defibrillator machine appears designed to be usable by the untrained in an emergency too.

 
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Using the defibrilator to somone just out the water may be dangerous if the patient is on wet surface and the chest is not dried.To confirm that the patient is in cardiac arrest or not, just check the pulse at the carotid artery,(Adams apple and slide down about 2 cm)if no pulse,no cardiac output.If the patient is not breathing thats mean he is in respiratory arrest which if not sorted will result in cardiac arrest.
 
BTW those defibrillators really work, last year they used one to resuscitate a 70 year old man at the local leisure centre. Made front page of the local newspaper (it's quiet here ).

Trux, finally got round to watching your video - excellent, for some reason I found it much easy to concentrate on that one. Memorable (I dare mouth-to-mouth is a more attractive proposition in that scenario than most).
 
It's a little late, but I'll chime in. I am a Blue Cross-certified First Responder, so I also heard about the new training guidelines. As Jay said, the compressions-only strategy is only for people with no other CPR training because it's fast to teach and easy to remember.

I was curious to know if Blue Cross trainers are familiar with some of the issues involving SWB, so I asked if my instructor was familiar with the need to clear the airway after a blackout. She had never heard of the reflex that prevents breathing when you have water in your airways. I wonder if this problem is mainly related to freediving SWB or if it carries over into regular drownings. If a drowning victim has the same issue, it would be good for them to know about it.
 

when i worked in the maldives many years ago, i was brought a contractor who was knocked off a boat with a crane. he drowned but they brought him to the surface and i administered CPR.

he was so full of froth and water it was like blowing through a straw into a milkshake.

which brings me to my question.. in this instance, how do you clear the airway?
 
Reactions: apneaboy
Suction..usually you find such device in any resuscitation bag.
 
From what I know/have been told, the breaths are relatively unimportant; it's the compressions that make the difference. As you compress the lungs, it should empty them, and as you release pressure, they fill by themselves. So I guess the breaths would just be a supplement? By the way, I'm not a medic, so don't hold me to any of this...
 
In the UK, the St. Johns Ambulance Brigade and/or the Red Cross used to teach the need to clear the airway first, when I first did training several decades ago. I don't think they did on more recent 3rd party defribulator training I received, or perhaps it was just mentioned rather than emphasised - perhaps because it was in a dry workplace setting. However ensuring the airway is clear seems a sensible precaution in most cases.

Dr. Heimlich tried (unsuccessfully it seems now) to get the Heimlich Heimlich Maneuver adopted in cases of drowning. His logic was, I believe, that (1) the airway needs to be cleared before CPR can be effective and (2) clearing the airway will often/sometimes be enough to allow breathing to naturally restart without the need for CPR.
 
Note: I meant Red Cross - Blue Cross is a health insurance company :head

My *Red* Cross trainer made sure to teach us to clear the airway before beginning CPR and rescue breathing. The method was to sweep obstructions out of the mouth. However, in the case of drowning, can the obstruction always be removed so easily? What about in the case of laryngospasm?
 
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