Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a series of life saving techniques that is used in emergency cases such as cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction or heart attack and respiratory failure or simply put, the instances in which the heartbeat and breathing has stopped. These usually happens in an instant that is why the American heart association recommends all health care providers and even those who are untrained to know the steps of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation has certain conditions to be met before it is done or provided to the victim. The CPR provider should assess the situation well appropriately demonstrated by surveying the scene if it is safe for both the rescuer and the victim. When it isn’t, then the CPR provider must transfer himself or herself and the victim to be rescued in a safe and secure place. After this, the victim is assessed well to confirm that he or she needs cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The following conditions needs to be met before the rescuer provides CPR:
• The victim must be unconscious
The victim should be unconscious before cardiopulmonary resuscitation is provided. This would mean that the loss of oxygen has rendered him or her unconscious and that cardiopulmonary resuscitation is necessary immediately. This is confirmed by holding the victim by the shoulders and tapping on the process while shouting his or her name and asking if he or she is okay. If the victim responds in some way then cardiopulmonary resuscitation is not provided. But if the victim does not respond at all, consider providing CPR.
• The victim has either no respiration or no pulse
After checking of the victim is really unconscious, the next thing to do is to check if the patient is breathing or check if the patient is already having trouble with breathing. One important thing to check is the victim’s pulse. The radial pulse is the usual and most accessible site to check for the presence of a pulse. The radial pulse is located on the wrist lateral to the thumb. When there is no pulse, then it gives the rescuer all the more reason to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation. These two are the most important things to check before providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. When the victim is no longer breathing, there is no occurrence of gas exchange nor ventilation in the lungs.. No oxygen is transported in the cells which is needed for the body to function well, when this happens, the heart cannot pump enough blood and the pulse weakens and then vanishes, this is when cardiopulmonary resuscitation is needed.
When the brain did not receive oxygen for over five minutes, it will suffer permanent damage therefore CPR should be done immediately since this increases the patient’s chances or making a full recovery. Because cardiopulmonary resuscitation is first aid, it keeps the oxygenated blood flowing to the brain only temporarily, when the patient has reached the hospital, other needed equipment are necessary to continue the patient’s breathing and heartbeat at a normal level.