What Are the Important Steps Of CPR

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is a critical skill that can greatly improve someone’s chances of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest. Statistics show that giving CPR right away can double or even triple the likelihood of a person surviving.

Imagine if someone suddenly collapses and stops breathing. That’s when CPR comes into play. It involves pressing on the chest (chest compressions) and giving rescue breaths to keep oxygen moving through the body until professional help arrives.

Medical experts stress the importance of acting fast during a cardiac arrest. CPR buys time by keeping the brain and other vital organs supplied with oxygen-rich blood, which is crucial for preventing serious harm.

In this article, we’ll explain the essential steps of CPR in a clear and simple way. Knowing these steps and being ready to act could make a big difference in saving someone’s life when every second counts.

Why is CPR Done?

CPR is a way to help people who have no pulse or can’t breathe on their own. You might need to do CPR if all these things are true:

• The person collapses.
• They don’t respond when you talk or touch them.
• They aren’t breathing.
• They don’t have a pulse (you can’t feel their heartbeat).

So basically, CPR is often the first line of response in emergencies such as heart attacks, drowning, or electric shock. Performing CPR promptly can significantly improve the chances of survival until professional medical help arrives.

Sadly, about 60% of people who have a heart attack outside of a hospital don’t get help right away. But if you get CPR right after your heart stops, your chances of surviving can go up a lot—sometimes doubling or even tripling.

Steps of Performing CPR

Now, before we find out what are the steps of CPR, it’s important to know that taking a CPR certification course helps you understand the basics of how to do CPR. Once you have the certification, you can confidently perform the CPR without committing any mistakes.

Now, let’s learn the basic steps for performing CPR effectively:

1. Ensure the Area Is Safe

Before starting CPR, make sure the area is safe. Look around for dangers like traffic, fire, or exposed wires to protect both yourself and the victim. This is crucial as nearly 73.4% of CPR cases happen at home, and household hazards can pose a risk . 

Wearing protective gear like gloves and a mask, if available, can prevent the spread of infections. If the environment isn’t safe, try to move the victim to a safer place if you can do so without risking injury. 

Always prioritize safety before administering CPR to ensure you can provide effective help without becoming a second victim.

2. Assess the Situation of the Victim

To check if the person needs CPR, tap their shoulder and ask loudly if they’re okay. Look for normal breathing by watching their chest and listening for breath sounds. If there’s no response and they’re not breathing normally, they likely need CPR. 

These actions are crucial in CPR steps in order to determine if immediate action is needed. If they’re unresponsive and not breathing properly, start CPR right away. 

This quick check helps ensure that CPR is given to those who really need it.

3. Call for Help

Before starting CPR, call emergency services (911 in the U.S.) immediately. This step is crucial because getting professional medical help on the way is often the key to the victim’s survival. If you have someone with you, ask them to call and fetch an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) while you begin CPR. If alone, use a speakerphone if possible.

Studies show that without timely emergency intervention, survival rates drop significantly. About 90% of people who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrests die. 

Early CPR combined with rapid emergency response can double or even triple the chance of survival.

4. Begin Chest Compressions

If help doesn’t arrive promptly, it’s crucial not to delay action. Here is how you can begin chest compressions:

1. Position Your Hands: Place the heel of one hand on the center of the chest (over the lower half of the sternum), and the other hand on top, interlocking fingers.
2. Compressions: Push hard and fast at a rate of 100-120 compressions per minute and a depth of at least 2 inches (5 cm) for adults.
3. Allow Full Recoil: Let the chest return to its normal position after each compression.

Remember, even if unsure or untrained in rescue breaths, initiating chest compressions promptly can significantly improve the person’s chances of survival.

5. Give Rescue Breaths (if trained)

Giving rescue breaths is an important part of CPR if you are trained to do so. After performing chest compressions, open the victim’s airway by tilting their head back and lifting the chin. Pinch their nose shut and cover their mouth with yours to create a seal. 

Give two gentle breaths, each lasting about one second, while watching for their chest to rise. If the breaths do not make the chest rise, reposition the head and try again. After giving two breaths, resume chest compressions following the 30:2 ratio.

If you are not trained to give rescue breaths, focus on performing uninterrupted chest compressions until help arrives. Also, if you haven’t received training in CPR, consider getting CPR first aid certification to learn these life-saving techniques effectively.

6. Continue Performing CPR

Continuing CPR means doing chest pushes and rescue breaths one after the other to keep blood moving and help someone who’s not awake. 

First, press the chest hard and fast 30 times in a row, about 2 inches deep, at a rate like a fast song beat. If you know how, give 2 breaths after that. Try not to stop much because it’s important to keep blood flowing well. The pushes move oxygen-rich blood around, and the breaths give more oxygen. 

Keep doing this until experts arrive or the person starts breathing on their own. It’s important to practice CPR often so you know how to help in emergencies.

7. Use an AED (if available)

Using an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), if available, can significantly improve the chances of survival during cardiac arrest.

AEDs are user-friendly devices that analyze the heart’s rhythm and deliver an electric shock if necessary. Here’s how it works: 

• After turning on the AED, you attach pads to the victim’s bare chest as shown in diagrams on the device. 
• The AED then assesses the heart rhythm and prompts you to administer a shock if it detects a specific type of life-threatening arrhythmia called ventricular fibrillation. 

So, using an AED quickly after someone’s heart stops can save lives. If an AED is used within 3-5 minutes of a person collapsing, survival rates can be 50-70%. 

AEDs are important because they can fix the heart’s rhythm before doctors arrive, which helps the person live. Even with just a little training, anyone can use an AED. 

That’s why having an AED nearby during emergencies is very important—it can make a big difference in saving someone’s life.

How to Perform CPR for an Infant

Performing CPR on infants under 1 year involves using gentle but firm pressure due to their small size. Follow these steps:

1. Assess Responsiveness: Tap the infant’s foot and shout to check for any response.
2. Call for Help: If unresponsive, shout for help and call emergency services immediately.
3. Positioning: Lay the infant on a firm surface, such as a table or the floor.
4. Compressions: Use two fingers (index and middle) in the center of the chest, just below the nipple line. Press down about 1.5 inches (about 4 cm) at a rate of about 100-120 compressions per minute.
5. Airway: Tilt the head back gently to open the airway.
6. Breaths: If trained and comfortable, cover the infant’s nose and mouth with your mouth and give gentle puffs of air, watching for chest rise.
7. Continue CPR: Alternate between 30 chest compressions and 2 rescue breaths until help arrives or the infant begins breathing on their own.

According to the Merck Manual, about 50 to 65% of children requiring CPR are under 1 year old. Of these, most are less than 6 months old.

However, the survival rates are unfortunately low. The American Heart Association reports that more than 7,000 children suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest annually. While the reported number of infant out-of-hospital cardiac arrests varies widely, survival to hospital discharge averages 6.2 percent for children less than one year old who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Therefore, CPR on infants requires special care and should be performed promptly and accurately to maximize chances of survival. 

How to Perform CPR For Children (1 year to puberty)

For children aged 1 year to puberty, CPR follows similar principles but with adjustments to suit their smaller size and needs. 

When performing CPR on a child, use one or both hands to deliver chest compressions, pressing about 2 inches deep into the chest. The compression rate remains the same as for adults, aiming for 100-120 compressions per minute. Rescue breaths are given in the same ratio of 30 compressions to 2 breaths. 

It’s important to adjust the pressure and depth of compressions appropriately to ensure effectiveness while being mindful of the child’s smaller frame and differing physiology compared to adults.

Hands-only CPR

Hands-only CPR involves performing chest compressions without rescue breaths. It’s recommended for untrained rescuers or those uncomfortable with giving breaths. 

The technique focuses on providing continuous, rapid compressions to help maintain blood flow to the heart and brain during cardiac arrest. 

To perform hands-only CPR:

• Position the victim on a firm surface.
• Interlock your hands and place them on the center of the chest.
• Push hard and fast (100-120 compressions per minute) to a depth of at least 2 inches.
• Continue until professional help arrives or the person shows signs of responsiveness. This simplified approach can improve the chances of survival until medical assistance is available.

Why Is It Important to Perform Chest Compressions During CPR?

Performing chest compressions during CPR is really important because they help keep blood moving throughout the body, especially to the brain and heart. 

When someone has a cardiac arrest, their heart stops working properly, which means oxygen-rich blood isn’t getting to where it needs to go. 

Chest compressions manually mimic the heart’s pumping action, which helps push blood around the body and keeps oxygen flowing to the brain and other vital organs. This is crucial because it buys time until more advanced medical help can arrive, like using a defibrillator or getting professional medical care. 

Good chest compressions greatly increase the chances of someone surviving a cardiac arrest by helping to prevent serious harm to their organs. So, doing chest compressions correctly is a key part of CPR and can make a big difference in saving someone’s life during an emergency.

What Happens After CPR?

After CPR, the main aim is to get the patient’s heart and breathing functioning normally again. If this is successful, the patient might wake up and start breathing on their own. However, what happens next can vary a lot. It depends on things like why the heart stopped, how quickly CPR started, and how well it was done. These factors all play a big role in what happens to the patient after CPR is given.

Survival rates after CPR can be tough. In hospitals, about 24% of people who receive CPR make it out of the hospital alive. But for those who have a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital, the chances of survival are lower, typically between 10% and 20%. Factors like how quickly help arrives and whether CPR is given by someone nearby can affect these numbers.

After CPR, patients need close monitoring and treatment to avoid more problems and help them recover. Checking how the brain is working is crucial because lack of oxygen during cardiac arrest can cause brain damage. Right after CPR, the main goals are to stabilize the patient, check how well their brain is working, and treat any reasons that caused the cardiac arrest in the first place.

Learn CPR and Be a Lifesaver

Learning CPR isn’t just a skill—it can save lives. If you know what to do and act quickly during an emergency, you can help save someone’s life. Acting fast greatly increases the chances of survival after a heart stops beating. Whether you’re at home, work, or in public, being trained in CPR makes a big difference. Get certified and stay prepared. Your readiness could mean the difference between someone living or a tragedy. Let’s work together to make our communities safer and be ready to help each other in emergencies.