CPR

ABC’s

ABC’s, simply stand for airway, breathing, and circulation. It is the progression emergency responders use when coming onto an injured victim.

Check for signs of circulation or pulse. If the victim is breathing, coughing, or showing signs of movement, they have a pulse. They could not do these things without one.

CPR

CPR, stands for Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. It is a combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions, designed to keep oxygen rich blood flowing to the brain and other parts of the body. Without oxygen and blood to the brain, permanent brain damage and death can occur in less than 8 minutes.

When it comes to CPR, many people think that you are performing the operation to get a persons heart started. In reality, most often, performing CPR will not start a persons heart, although in children, you are more likely to be able to do so than in adults. This is a common misperception, from watching too many TV shows that depict a person trying CPR to get the person’s heart started again, and then giving up after a minute. The main function of CPR, is to continue to keep the circulation of blood flowing to the brain, until paramedics can arrive to restart the person’s heart. You are basically pumping the heart for them, in an attempt to avoid brain death. When paramedics arrive, they can use electrical shock, and and other more effective means of actually restarting the heart.

CPR is recommended for all parents. It is a good thing to know, and may be used more often than you think. It can be done in a day on the weekend, where instructors will teach you techniques, methods, and let you get real life practice on mannequins of infants, children, and adults. If you blow too much air into an infant, you can collapse their lungs, or if you try to perform CPR too lowdown on their chest, you can break off the sternum and cause a fatal injury. We recommend all parents take a CPR course to become comfortable in performing these valuable techniques in an emergency. Doing them incorrectly can cause serious damage.