[Press Release] 1 minute of CPR video training could save lives

NSA BAHRAIN_130708-N-AZ907-005 (Photo credit: U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. Fifth Fleet)

From the 16 November 2013 American Heart Association press release via EurkAlert

RESS Abstract 19453/157 (Omni Dallas Hotel, Dallas Ballroom D-H)

Just one minute of CPR video training for bystanders in a shopping mall could save lives in emergencies, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2013.

Researchers used a one-minute CPR video to improve responsiveness and teach compression only CPR to people with no CPR experience.

Participants were divided into two groups: 48 adults looked at the video, while 47 sat idle for one minute. In a private area with a mannequin simulating a sudden collapse, both groups were asked to do “what they thought best.” Researchers measured responsiveness as time to call 9-1-1 and start chest compression and CPR quality reflected by chest compression depth, rate and hands-off interval time.

Adults who saw the CPR video called 9-1-1 more frequently, initiated chest compression sooner, had an increased chest compression rate and a decreased hands-off interval, researchers said.

“Given the short length of training, these findings suggest that ultra-brief video training may have potential as a universal intervention for public venues to help bystander reaction and improve CPR skills,” said Ashish Panchal, M.D., Ph.D. lead researcher of the study.

Related articles

• Watching just one-minute CPR video increases reaction in an emergency: Study (sunnewsnetwork.ca)

 

From a previous post (which includes videos)

A link to information about the new CPR guidelines (Compression – Airway- Breathing) may be found here.
A presskit with media materials, statements from experts, and real life stories may be found here.

Excerpt from the American Heart Association Oct 18, 2010 news release

Statement Highlights:

• The 2010 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC update the 2005 guidelines.
• When administering CPR, immediate chest compressions should be done first.
• Untrained lay people are urged to administer Hands-Only CPR (chest compressions only).

DALLAS, Oct. 18, 2010 — The American Heart Association is re-arranging the ABCs of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in its 2010 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation andEmergency Cardiovascular Care, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Recommending that chest compressions be the first step for lay and professional rescuers to revive victims ofsudden cardiac arrest, the association said the A-B-Cs (Airway-Breathing-Compressions) of CPR should now be changed to C-A-B (Compressions-Airway-Breathing).[Editor Flahiff’s emphasis]

“For more than 40 years, CPR training has emphasized the ABCs of CPR, which instructed people to open a victim’s airway by tilting their head back, pinching the nose and breathing into the victim’s mouth, and only then giving chest compressions,” said Michael Sayre, M.D., co-author of the guidelines and chairman of the American Heart Association’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) Committee. “This approach was causing significant delays in starting chest compressions, which are essential for keeping oxygen-rich blood circulating through the body. Changing the sequence from A-B-C to C-A-B for adults and children allows all rescuers to begin chest compressions right away.”

In previous guidelines, the association recommended looking, listening and feeling for normal breathing before starting CPR. Now, compressions should be started immediately on anyone who is unresponsive and not breathing normally.

All victims in cardiac arrest need chest compressions. In the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest, victims will have oxygen remaining in their lungs and bloodstream, so starting CPR with chest compressions can pump that blood to the victim’s brain and heart sooner. Research shows that rescuers who started CPR with opening the airway took 30 critical seconds longer to begin chest compressions than rescuers who began CPR with chest compressions.

The change in the CPR sequence applies to adults, children and infants, but excludes newborns.

Other recommendations, based mainly on research published since the last AHA resuscitation guidelines in 2005:

• During CPR, rescuers should give chest compressions a little faster, at a rate of at least 100 times a minute.
• Rescuers should push deeper on the chest, compressing at least two inches in adults and children and 1.5 inches in infants.
• Between each compression, rescuers should avoid leaning on the chest to allow it to return to its starting position.
• Rescuers should avoid stopping chest compressions and avoid excessive ventilation.
• All 9-1-1 centers should assertively provide instructions over the telephone to get chest compressions started when cardiac arrest is suspected.