Charity Robinson, MD
By Dr. Charity Robinson
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in men and women in the US, and is responsible for one in five deaths. Key risk factors for heart disease are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity, diabetes, unhealthy diet, inactivity, and excessive alcohol. It is important to reduce your risks to prevent heart disease, but it is also important to know how to help others when someone has a sudden collapse. A witness who performs bystander CPR improves the chance of survival by 2-3 times. You will most likely use CPR on someone you know, as 70% of cardiac arrests happen in the home. There are key things to know to save a life with CPR.
First, when a heart stops, every second counts. If you see someone collapse, call 911 and check for responsiveness, then start CPR right away. Don’t waste time checking for a pulse, untrained bystanders should just start CPR immediately. Do not hesitate because of concerns about mouth-to-mouth breathing either, this can be started by someone who is trained or when professional rescuers arrive. You don’t have to worry about hurting someone, it is a much bigger risk to do nothing, so anything you do can only help. It is also ok to move them, they need to be on their back, and it is best to have them on the ground for CPR.
To perform CPR: Place the heel of one hand in the center of the chest, place the other hand on top and interlock the fingers. Push straight down hard and fast at 100 to 120 beats a minute, which is about the same as singing “Staying Alive” by Bee Gees in your head.
Remember that certification is not necessary to save a life, and never wait for professional rescuers. Also, everyone is qualified to use an AED as they were designed to be used by someone who has never seen one before, so if one is available, use it. Learning can also be easy. For American Heart Month, join the challenge for at least one person in every home to learn CPR. There are Hands-Only CPR short videos and resources on AHA website heart.org, including a Heartsaver Virtual training course at cpr.heart.org.