WHAT IS THIS HIGH-QUALITY/HIGH-PERFORMANCE CPR?
January 16, 2021
In 2018, 56% of people experiencing witnessed SCA (sudden cardiac arrest) survived in my county SURVIVED! This is in large part to the instruction of High-Performance CPR to the EMS and Hospital responders. The droning little details your CPR instructor presents, believe it or not, make the difference. Proper hand placement, proper depth of compression, proper rate, and minimum interruptions add up! There is something to be said about the Call 911, Push Hard, and Push Fast campaign, in fact, it’s on my card. Many times at a CPR scene people saved the lives of loved ones with telephone-only CPR.
Survival from out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest is extremely variable throughout the United States with high survival rates of 5% in Seattle and King County Washington, and low survival rates of 0% in Detroit, 3% in Chicago, 5% in New York, and 7% in Los Angeles. Even more fundamental is the fact that only 40 communities in the US have rigorously measured and reported their survival rates. Most communities have no idea how they are performing in terms of managing sudden cardiac arrest. Why is this? There are answers. As proven in Seattle and King County, managers and directors of EMS systems can learn the steps they need to take to improve survival.
CPR is being studied around the world. Here in Seattle, it is the CPR epicenter. Research is telling us to keep forging ahead.
I read something recently that suggested that laypersons just do CPR well enough to “get by”. I teach High-Performance CPR because it keeps the lay rescuer aware that taking training that helps to understand CPR science allows the rescuer to perform at a high level.
10 Steps to high-performance CPR:
- Rapid access to 911
- Rapid evaluation: shake and shout
- Begin with compressions, hands between nipples
- Compress and Decompress about 1/3rd of body depth
- Compress at a rate of 100-120 BPM (Baby Shark, Stayin’ Alive)
- Ventilate twice, 1 second each, just enough for chest rise
- Always Return Quickly To The Chest
- Shock as soon as a defibrillator is available
- Take a CPR class more than every 2 years
- Attend live classes with experienced instructors