Our heart is an amazing organ. It works hard for us every second of every day, delivering blood and oxygen to every cell in our body. But when sudden cardiac arrest strikes, our heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating effectively and blood flow stops.
Without any intervention, the brain, vital organs, and our heart will begin to die. Beginning CPR is the person's only chance of survival. Brain damage will start to set in within 4 minutes, and after 10 minutes, brain damage becomes irreversible. The power to save a life is truly in your hands.
Performing CPR accomplishes two critical things. 1. Compressions move oxygenated blood to the brain to keep the brain alive. And 2. Compressions keep blood and oxygen moving to the heart muscle itself, so that it has the best chance of resuming a normal electrical rhythm After a shock is delivered as you begin compressions you are creating an artificial pump and doing the work of the heart Manually with each good effective compression you are building up pressure in the system Which will move blood around the heart and up to the brain it does take time to get the blood moving with CPR So it is very important to push hard and push fast to build the pressure up which keeps blood going to the brain pushing down at least Just 2 inches allows for the heart to be squeezed and blood to move out. Pushing at a rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute is necessary to keep blood pumping.
Let's see what happens when we take our hands off the chest. Blood stops moving to the brain. It is for this reason that if you are taking your hands off the chest to deliver breaths or switching roles, it is critical to minimize time off the chest.
Watch what happens when we don't push deep enough. Blood does not reach the brain. The same is true if we do not push fast enough.
Watch what happens when we push too fast. The heart does not have time to refill with blood. Therefore, not enough blood gets pumped out. Watch what happens when we don't allow the body to decompress and allow the chest to fully recoil. The heart does not have a chance to refill with blood, therefore no blood gets pumped out.
So remember, the key purpose of delivering compressions is to keep oxygenated blood moving within the heart and up to the brain to keep the brain alive. We need to push hard and push fast in the center of the chest. If ribs break, that's okay.
What's not okay is allowing the brain to die from a lack of oxygen. So remember, You are their only hope. Do the best you can, and don't give up until medical help arrives or an AED is present.
You can do it!