What would you do if someone next to you collapsed because their heart stopped beating from sudden cardiac arrest? Cardiac arrest is an electrical malfunction in the heart that causes an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) and disrupts the flow of blood to the brain, lungs and other organs – is a leading cause of death. Each year, more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States.
Eastview School students in White Plains received CPR and AED training
When a person has a cardiac arrest, survival depends on immediately receiving CPR from someone nearby. According to the American Heart Association, about 90 percent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests die. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.
Recently, a 16-year old Stamford teen Keyara Zamor saved her 5-year old cousin with Hands-Only CPR skills she learned in 2015 at a CPR training at her Connecticut school.
The American Heart Association You’re the Cure grassroots advocacy group worked to pass CPR in Schools legislation in both Connecticut and New York in recent years. Hundreds of thousands of children will be trained annually because of the law.
More than a dozen Ketcham High School students in New York State have used their CPR skills to save lives. Ketcham was teaching CPR in physical education classes long before the law passed. The AHA recommends that the entire community, not just students, know Hands-Only CPR to help improve survival rates.
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If you are called on to perform CPR in an emergency, you will most likely be trying to save the life of someone you love: a child, a spouse, a parent or a friend because 70 percent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen in homes.
About 46 percent of people who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest receive the immediate help that they need before professional help arrives. Hands-Only CPR has been shown to be as effective as conventional CPR for cardiac arrest at home, at work or in public spaces.
Hands-Only CPR has just two easy steps, performed in this order: (1) Call 9-1-1 if you see a teen or adult suddenly collapse; and (2) Push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of a familiar song that has 100 to 120 beats per minute.
Song examples include “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z, “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira” or “Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash. People feel more confident performing Hands-Only CPR and are more likely to remember the correct rate when trained to the beat of a familiar song.
When performing CPR, you should push on the chest at a rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute, which corresponds to the beat of the song examples above.
Watch the 90-second demo video. Visit www.heart.org/handsonlycpr to watch the Hands-Only CPR instructional video. Hands-Only CPR is a natural introduction to CPR, and the AHA encourages everyone to learn conventional CPR as a next step. You can find a CPR class near you at heart.org/findacourse and/or purchase a CPR Anytime® Kit at shopheart.org/cpr-anytime.