(CPR) TRAINING - RCT Heart Heroes - A Charity who makes a difference

CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It’s a life saving medical procedure which is given to someone who is in cardiac arrest. It helps to pump blood around the person’s body when their heart can’t.

To carry out CPR a person presses firmly up and down on the casualty’s chest (chest compressions) and gives them a series of rescue breaths to help save their life when they are in cardiac arrest.

To maximise the chance of survival for a cardiac arrest victim, timely intervention is crucial.

For every minute that passes without treatment, the survival rate decreases by 10% so the quicker you can react and commence CPR and Defibrillation, the better.

Below is a short guide of what to do in a medical emergency when someone suffers a cardiac arrest and requires CPR and Defibrillation. Remember, every second counts so the quicker you can react, the greater chances of survival for the patient.

A cardiac arrest is when your heart suddenly stops pumping blood round your body, commonly because of a problem with electrical signals in your heart.

When your heart stops pumping blood, your brain is starved of oxygen. This causes you to fall unconscious and stop breathing

CARDIAC ARREST

What are the signs of a cardiac arrest?

There are usually no symptoms before a cardiac arrest and, without immediate treatment, it will be fatal. If someone is in cardiac arrest:

◦ they won’t be conscious

◦ they won’t be responsive

◦ they won’t be breathing, or breathing normally.

A cardiac arrest is a medical emergency. If you witness a cardiac arrest, you can increase the person’s chances of survival by phoning 999 immediately and giving CPR.

What causes a cardiac arrest?

The most common cause of a cardiac arrest is a life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm called Ventricular Fibrillation (VF).

Ventricular fibrillation happens when the electrical activity of your heart becomes so chaotic that the heart stops pumping and quivers or ‘fibrillates’ instead.