Basic Life Support / Basic Principle of CPR

Hello caring and concern MALAYSIAN :)

Last Saturday, I attend the basic life support training or CPR class. CPR is not only can be done by health care giver, people with no medical background also can do since it is a simple procedure yet can be so helpful in saving other's life. So, I'm here to share my experiences and explain the simplest way to do CPR.

Well let me introduce the terms and basic principle of CPR.

 1) CPR : Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. (baca: bantuan pernafasan mulut-ke-mulut)

 2) AED : Automated External Defibrillator (baca: kejutan elektrik dgn kadar minimum)

Objectives of CPR :

1) To keep BRAIN alive.

2) To delay/stop the process of biological death.

Rationales: 

1) Without oxygen, brain will start damage in 4 minutes. As we do compression (baca: tekan dada atleast 5cm) it will extend to 10 minutes. If we give mouth-to-mouth oxygen, we will extend the minutes and prevent brain damage. (If brain death, human are also dead and its not reversible)

STEP to do CPR :

acronyms of DR CAB

D - DANGER (bahaya)

R- RESPONSE (tindak balas)

C- COMPRESSION (tekanan dada)

A- AIRWAY (saluran pernafasan)

B- BREATHING (pernafasan)

Explanations: 

D- DANGER : If we found a collapsed victim in anyplace, before we attend to the victim, we suppose to look out if theres any danger that may be harm us around the victim. well, safety first people :)

R- RESPONSE : Check for the victim response by tapping hard on their shoulder. Shout at them as loud as you can, because they may be only fainted or sleeping. so you no need to wasting your energy to CPR. if theres no response, observe the chest movement and check the carotid pulse (2 finger from the adam's apple). if theres still no response, Call for ambulance and prepare the AED if available. Then, continue to the next step.

C- COMPRESSION (tekan dada) : You may begin to do compression 30 times and give mouth-to-mouth breathing 2 times. 30 compression: 2 breathing is consider 1 cycle. You may continue to  5 Cycles. 

Location to do compression : between the nipple line, put your both hand together, maintain your hand straight and start press the chest for 30 times. (Push hard, Push Fast)

Figure 1: Chest Compression Location

A-AIRWAY :  Collapsed victims or unconscious people, their tongue may fall backward and obstruct their airway. So victims cannot breathing as usual. To prevent this you need to tilt the head and lift the chin (dongakkan kepala) if not contraindicated. If you suspect victim has injured their neck, you may not tilt the head but do the Jaw Thrust (refer figure 3)

Figure 2: Head Tilt Chin Lift

Figure 3: Jaw Thrust

B-BREATHING : Now here come your mouth-to-mouth breathing. Give 2 times of breathing and continue for another 30 compression. Do it until completed 5 cycles. Special Warning, you did not know the healtg background or social history of the victims, do not do the direct contact to victims' mouth, use some barrier such plastic that you do a hole , and breath thru that.

When to stop : 

1) Victim recovers

2) Ambulance arrives

3) Another person take over to do CPR 

4) You are too tired to continue.

Atleast try to completed the 5 cycles before you stop.

Thanks for reading, reading without practice is totally NO use. Practice with your family or friends, you may help other people's live. Siapa tahu kan ? :)