Floridians Urged to Take Life Saving Measures into Own Hands
Posted June 3, 2013 07:35 am
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - When it comes to cases of sudden cardiac arrest,
bystander CPR can double or even triple survival rates,
but in the majority of such incidents there is no
immediate help.
According to CPR educator Kim Harkins, that's partly because of people not being certain how to perform CPR, or being wary of giving mouth-to-mouth, but she explained that the recommended method has changed over the years so now it's simply rapid chest compressions to a disco beat.
Links:
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Hands-only CPR
•
Today I Found Out
"We really encourage people just to compress on the chest, at least two inches, 100 times a minute," Harkins said. "You can do it to the beat of 'Stayin' Alive.' So it is much easier, which takes away that fear of doing it wrong or having to give breaths."
Harkins noted that "doing something is always better
than doing nothing."
While cardiac arrest is generally considered an issue
for those who are older, Harkins said it can happen
anywhere, at any time and, really, at any age.
"We see all the time younger people, people who have
been participating in activities, that suddenly
collapse, and that is the population often with
undiagnosed heart problems or congenital heart
problems," she said.
Almost 400,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests
occur annually nationwide, and a majority of them occur
at home.
This is National CPR and AED Awareness Week.
Photos and links added by the Observer