Approximately 350,000 people in the U.S. experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, and a staggering 90% of them will not survive.
Doctors with the American Heart Association want to improve the odds for Utahns and others. With that in mind, the association has developed a new set of CPR guidelines aimed at providing effective ways for people without medical training to save lives.
Dr. Ashish Panchal, emergency department physician at Ohio State University, said it is important for bystanders to act immediately when someone's heart stops.
"In that moment when CPR has started, that rescuer's hands is the patient's heart," Panchal pointed out. "Every beat, every compression makes blood flow through the body into their brain, and brings that person one step closer to being home with their family, neurologically intact."
The new guidelines, published in the journal Circulation, represent the first update to CPR guidelines since 2020. Panchal noted the updates include using a single streamlined "Chain of Survival" for all cardiac arrest scenarios and an increased emphasis on both the quality of compressions and delivering rescue breaths.
Panchal stressed there have been major advancements in the science surrounding CPR and the guidelines provided to the public. Education options include in-person classes, online courses, and blended learning, with local training centers available across Utah. The state also requires 911 operators and other emergency personnel to be trained in talking to bystanders through delivering CPR.
"It's a volunteer-led effort which is really focused at telling the story of the newest science," Panchal explained. "Let's be honest, there's an exponential growth in science, and that science has to be translated into something that we can use on an everyday basis."
Panchal added that increasing the number of CPR certifications can significantly improve the cardiac event survival rate for your neighbors.
"We need to think about what the simplest, most direct way that you, me, every person can save a life," Panchal emphasized. "That's what the CPR guidelines does for lay rescuers. It tells us the most straightforward manner in which we can have a huge impact in our community."
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