How long would it take to learn how to possibly save a life? Is it 8years, 4years, 1year, 6 months? No, no, no, and no. Try less than 1day! Every year it is estimated that somewhere between 250,00 – 500,000 Americans die from sudden cardiac death (SCD) outside the hospital or within the emergency room. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Could some of these lives have been saved? The answer is overwhelmingly yes! Numerous studies have shown over the years that basic life support (BLS) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are effective and when performed in a timely and appropriate manner could have resulted in positive outcomes for many patients.

To simplify it, CPR is basically a series of actions performed by the responder (lay person or medical personnel) on someone who is non-responsive or unconscious and has no pulse and /or not breathing. These actions are preformed immediately when it is determined that there are no significant pulses (blood circulation) and no significant breathing (respirations). The emphasis is on immediate resuscitation as brain and cardiac tissue death begin to occur within minutes of lack of significant oxygenation. This is exactly why it is imperative for non-medical people to learn CPR and BLS. CPR attempts to delay this tissue death from occurring, allowing medical personnel to intervene with more advanced life support options in addition to determining what caused the event and its management. It is also imperative to learn when not to perform CPR, such as when someone is responsive even minimally and does have adequate circulation (pulses) and respiration (breathing). Performing CPR on such an individual could cause injury and complicate the situation.

BLS includes training people on the early identification of SCA (Sudden Cardiac Arrest), heart attacks, stroke, or someone choking on a foreign body. One can also be trained on administering effective and appropriate CPR, use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) as most SCA victims eventually demonstrate a potentially lethal heart rhythm during some point in the arrest. Learning the proper Heimlich maneuver and when to perform this, CPR on a drowning victim, etc.

As you can see it does not take much time to properly learn BLS and get certified in this training. The benefits are infinite; you could even save the life of someone you know! Be sure to re-certify at least once every 1-2 years to maintain your skills and certification, especially since guidelines may change slightly every few years to incorporate updated research.

Some sources to obtain training in Tucson and surrounding areas include the Fire Dept, American Hearth Association, American Red Cross, or even local hospitals.

Vitality Medical &Wellness Center hosts CPR training monthly, please call 520-461-1717 to schedule your training. Visit www.vitalitymedcenter.com for details.

As always, please remember that these articles are written for general information and should not be a substitute to the personalized care of your health care provider(s). You should always check with your doctor prior to making any changes to your medical regimen and/or lifestyle as these changes could require a change in your medical therapy.

We are happy to answer your general health related questions regarding this or any other medical / health topic on our Doctor’s Blog. Please remember that we cannot provide any specific medical advice or medically “treat you” over the internet, but we can provide you information regarding a general health concern and possibly help provide you other resources to learn more about a particular health topic.

Written By,
Deepali Rastogi, MD
&
Mahesh Tipirneni, MD

www.vitalitymedcenter.com