Question

What is cardiopulmonary resuscitation?

Answer 1

Hint: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is also known as CPR. It is a technique given to a patient who doesn’t respond due to certain medical issues. It is mainly given to patients that do not breathe all of a sudden.

Complete answer: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is defined as an emergency procedure that involves chest compressions with artificial ventilation. It is an effort to preserve intact brain function manually, until further measures are taken, or medical help arrives, in order to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in a situation of cardiac arrest. CPR is recommended in those cases where the patient is unresponsive, has no breathing or abnormal breathing, for example, agonal respirations. In adults, CPR involves chest compressions between 5 cm and 6 cm deep and at a rate of at least 100 to 120 per minute. The rescuer or first aider may also provide artificial ventilation by either exhaling air into the patient’s mouth or nose (by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) or by using a device that pushes air into the patient’s lungs (by mechanical ventilation). Chest compression to breathing ratios is set at 30 is to 2 in adults, i.e., 30 chest compressions followed by giving mouth to mouth breathing two times.

Additional information: CPR oxygenates the body and brain for defibrillation and is used in the advanced life support. CPR results in few complete recoveries, though the outcome without CPR is almost uniformly fatal.

Note: CPR is a lifesaver when someone gets a cardiac arrest. It is included in the basic course of first aid also because timely CPR can save a person’s life and if delayed, a person might die. So, it is the role of a first aider to identify cardiac arrest and begin giving CPR.