What you need to know about CPR

CPR or CARDIO PULMONARY RESUSCITATION is an emergency lifesaving procedure performed when the heart stops beating. It is important to know the basics of CPR for it can double or triple the chances of survival after cardiac arrest.

Heart disease remained the top cause of death in the country from January to September 2023. PSA data showed ischemic heart disease was the top killer with 85,192 cases or 19 percent of total deaths in the country.

In 2019, about 3.9 percent of women and 3.1 percent of men among the ageing population experienced heart attacks in the Philippines. Within the same year, 38.4 percent of men and 50.3 percent of women of the ageing population were diagnosed with high blood pressure.

In 2020, ischemic heart disease was still the leading cause of death in the Philippines. Among the male population, approximately 62.2 thousand people have died from the disease. Meanwhile, just over 43.1 thousand female population in the country succumbed to death due to ischemic heart disease.

Countless lives are saved every day by CPR and it is some of the most valuable knowledge you can have.

WHEN TO USE CPR

CRP is most effective when it’s immediately administered once needed and it should only be given if someone shows no signs of life or when they are:

  • Unconscious
  • Unresponsive
  • Not breathing normally or not breathing at all\
  • If someone is gasping for air, use CPR, do not wait until they are not breathing.

CPR can help them survive by circulating oxygenated blood through the body. Without blood flow and oxygen, the heart stops beating, and the brain starts shutting down. The average person can only withstand about six minutes without oxygen before irreversible damage is done to the brain.

HOW TO GIVE CPR

The six basic steps to CRP are:

  1. Call emergency hotline or ask someone else to immediately.
  2. Lay the person on their back and open their airway.
  3. Check for breathing. If they are not breathing, start CPR.
  4. Perform 30 chest compressions.
  5. Give them two rescue breaths.
  6. Repeat until an ambulance or automated external defibrillator (AED) arrives.

Learn more at https://thecolonyer.com/what-to-know-about-cpr/