Growing evidence suggest chest-only compression is more effective than mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing. Just recently, a new study released by Arizona Department of Health Services also favored chest-only compressions instead of traditional CPR. The conclusion was reached by measuring survival based on hospital discharge among 4,415 cardiac arrest patients from 2005 to 2009.
From that number, 666 got traditional CPR, 549 got chest-only compressions, and 2,900 got no aid. Of those who received chest-only compressions, 13% were discharged from the hospital, while only 7.8% from those who received CPR with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and 5.2% from those who given no help at all.
Should you see somebody who obviously is unconscious, how would you know he or she needs CPR or chest-only compression? Chest-only compressions or hands-only CPR applies only to adults, and only those who are experiencing cardiac arrest. During Cardiac arrest among adults, heart stops before breathing, which means hard and rapid compressions could revive the patient by helping the heart to pump oxygen again and enable blood and oxygen circulation. With cardiac arrest on children though, rescue breathing is still necessary because it’s the breathing that stops before the heart. This is also true among those who were suffocated or drowned, and restoring respiration might revive them.
Chest-only compression is easy to administer and should not make you uneasy. Even if you don’t wear those Dickies uniforms or Adar uniforms, you could help revive anybody experiencing cardiac arrest. Here’s how to do chest-only compressions: Place the heel of your hand in the middle of the victim's chest. Put your other hand on top of the first with your fingers interlaced. Compress the chest about 1-1/2 to 2 inches (4-5 cm). Allow the chest to completely recoil before the next compression. Compress the chest at a rate equal to 100/minute. Perform 30 compressions at this rate. – about.com
