GREENFIELD — When a person’s heart stops, every second that blood fails to circulate to their brain matters.
For each minute that passes, the odds that they’ll experience a positive neurological outcome decreases by 10 percent, according Matt Wolkenbreit, the executive director at Community911 Training Inc. in Greenfield, which offers emergency medicine and first response training for both medical professionals and members of the general public.
That’s why the American Heart Association recently began recommending “hands-only” cardiopulmonary resuscitation — an alternative take on standard CPR, the iconic life-saving technique involving manual chest compressions and artificial ventilation of a non-responsive victim.
Wolkenbreit, who teaches the techinque as part of his courses, said it’s designed to be employed by bystanders during the time between placing a 911 call and the arrival of emergency responders.
Advising that the technique be performed with only chest compressions serves a few purposes, he said. First, it reduces the number of steps a person needs to remember to do CPR properly, and the order in which they are performed. That means they can get started quicker and feel more confident doing so.
“Early action makes the most difference for survival in an out-of-hospital situation, and quality of life later,” Wolkenbreit said. “The minutes matter. Intervention should start early, as soon as you recognize a teen or adult is not breathing or unresponsive.”
Second, the level of oxygen in a person’s blood in the early stages of cardiac arrest is usually sufficient to make providing breathes unnecessary until EMTs arrive. It’s more important during that time, Wolkenbreit said, to ensure that pressure is maintained throughout the circulatory system — that’s what the compressions are for.
Each time a person performing compressions pauses to provide breathes, the pressure that’s been built up drops back down, he said.
“The AHA has identified that the general reason for cardiac arrest in teens and adults is because of an abnormal heart rhythm,” Wolkenbreit said. “There’s probably enough oxygen, just no circulation. If the pump isn’t running, it doesn’t get there.”
Hands-only CPR can also give bystanders peace of mind about the possibility of contracting a communicable disease through mouth-to-mouth contact with a victim, which may deter them from performing CPR even though Wolkenbreit said there’s never been a documented case of that happening.
EMTs will begin providing breathes when they arrive, he said.
Wolkenbreit said the first step is to determine if CPR is needed. He said to watch to see if the person’s chest rises, which indicates that they’re breathing. If that’s not happening, and they’re not responding, call 911 and begin compressions.
Place the heel of one hand into the center of the victim’s chest, place your other hand on top and begin to push it down hard and fast. Wolkenbreit said the proper rate should be between 100 and 120 compressions per minute.
“That’s about the beat of ‘Stayin’ Alive,’” he said, referencing the popular and aptly-named Bee Gees song.
Don’t stop compressions until the ambulance arrives. The average response time is between two and seven minutes, he said.
For many bystanders, there’s another reason some fail to initiate CPR: fear of hurting the victim or causing more damage on top of that being caused the cardiac issue, and the possibility of being sued afterward.
But Wolkenbreit said there’s no reason to worry about that: performing CPR and saving the person’s life should always take precedence over concerns about being sued, especially because of the state’s “Good Samaritan” law, which protects people who act in good faith from being found at fault for a bad outcome. It’s the same law that protects people who report a drug overdose from prosecution, he said.
Though hands-only CPR can greatly improve the outcome for a person suffering cardiac arrest, Wolkenbreit said there’s another method widely available to the public that can be used in conjuction: automated external defibrilators.
“Anyone can use them with no specific training,” he said. “They’ll talk to you. You just have to go find it, turn it on and follow the audio instructions.” Many public buildings have them installed, a service Wolkenbreit’s organization also provides.
If you’re interested in being trained in CPR, the use of AEDs, or other emergency medical techniques, Wolkenbreit can be reached at:
Matt@community911training.com
You can reach Tom Relihan at:
trelihan@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 264
On Twitter, follow @RecorderTom