The Life-Saving Power of CPR

It was just after breakfast on a cold February Saturday when Donald and his partner Joey retired to their living room to enjoy the fire and catch up on their reading.  Donald was a fairly fit man of fifty-five, a diabetic who took good care of his diet and exercise. He walked, did strenuous household chores and climbed dozens of stairs each day.

It was a typical morning, until it wasn’t.  Without warning Donald lost consciousness and started to slide out of his chair. Donald had suffered a cardiac arrest. 

The time was 10:15. At that moment the clock began to tick down on his life.   

Cardiac arrest is an electrical malfunction where the heart’s rhythm becomes chaotic or stops altogether.  Without the coordinated beat, the heart can’t effectively pump blood, starving the brain of oxygen.

Within seconds of cardiac arrest, brain function begins to deteriorate. After just  four minutes irreversible brain damage can start to occur. These minutes, after the cardiac arrest and before brain damage begins, are the ‘Golden Minutes,’ the short period of time when damage is preventable.  After this point, the risk of permanent brain damage increases until survival with good neurological function is rare. Just ten minutes later.   

Joey knew what to do.  He immediately placed Donald on the floor, checked his pulse and grabbed his phone to dial 911.  Emergency services stayed on the phone with him as he applied CPR - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation - until the EMTs arrived, ten minutes later. While they would have to use a defibrillator to restore his heartbeat to normal, Donald’s brain was saved by the CPR administered by Joe. After a long hospital stay he was able to return to his former life with no residual effects.    

The odds are not in your favor if you suffer a cardiac arrest. According to the American Red Cross, studying data from the past 20 years, the survival rate for cardiac arrest is about 10 percent for out-of-hospital incidences and 21 percent for in-hospital events.      

The good news? Their research also shows that immediate high-quality CPR can triple the chance of survival, whether inside or outside the hospital.

Your chances of survival decrease by 10% for every minute that CPR and use of an AED is delayed. A survey reported by The American Heart Association tells us only half of Americans would perform lifesaving CPR. Why not all?  The rest either don’t know CPR, are afraid of hurting the victim or afraid of being sued. Data shows that men are less likely to perform CPR on a women they do not know.  

For the general public the American Heart Association recommends learning hands-only CPR, a two-step process that can save a life. The first step?  Call 911 immediately. The second step? Push hard and fast in the center of the chest.   

That’s the simple explanation - there are some nuances. Proper hand placement is important and compressions should be consistent with the correct pressure and depth.  But it’s a lesson that even kids as young as 12 can and should learn.   

An AED - Automated External Defibrillator - is a portable device used to treat sudden cardiac arrest by delivering an electric shock to restore normal function. Designed for the general public, they can be found in gyms, schools, retail stores and restaurants. Administering an AED shock can increase the survival chances of a victim of cardiac arrest.     

In one study looking at the survival rates of people who had sudden cardiac in casinos and who received AED treatment from staff, people who got their first shock within 3 minutes had a 75% survival rate. It was still 50% for those shocked after more than 3 minutes.

Training? Because they are designed to be used by non-medical individuals they come with easy diagrams and recorded audio instructions. It will even tell you if it is actually needed for victim. 

Your local chapter of the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association can find you a comprehensive class that will cover both CPR and AED use, with and without a certification at the end.  Hospitals, medical schools and healthcare networks are another resource.

In just a few hours you can be Joey, a lifesaver.