Immediate delivery of CPR is key to saving the life of a person in sudden cardiac arrest, but there’s more than one type of CPR. As a bystander, which should you provide?
There are two main types of bystander CPR: hands-only and CPR with breaths. Hands-only includes just chest compressions, while CPR with breaths combines chest compressions and rescue breaths (mouth-to-mouth).
For bystanders providing CPR, the hands-only version is widely recommended, especially if the victim is an adult or teen. CPR with breaths is primarily recommended for children and infants.
Let’s explore the differences between hands-only and CPR with breaths, and why hands-only is overwhelmingly encouraged for bystanders providing CPR.
Simple and effective
Hands-only CPR is the simpler of the two. The American Heart Association boils it down to two basic instructions:
- Call 911
- Push hard and fast at the center of the chest
The hands-only approach is designed to be simple enough to encourage the public to feel confident in jumping in to help a person in cardiac arrest.
Hands-only CPR is shown to be highly effective on adults and teens because they’re likely to have a body’s worth of oxygen-rich blood stored up at the time of cardiac arrest.
The problem is the blood isn’t being pumped through the body because the heart’s not beating. Vital organs – particularly the brain, heart, and lungs – no longer receive enough oxygen and nutrients. Irreversible damage can occur within a few minutes. A cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival decreases by 10 percent for each minute that passes without CPR.
Children and infants
While hands-only CPR is effective in adults and teens, children often require rescue breaths too. That’s because cardiac arrest in children frequently occurs when the body isn’t taking in enough oxygen. Choking and drowning are common culprits. Fresh oxygen must be introduced to the body through rescue breaths, then circulated with chest compressions.
Even if rescue breaths are recommended, providing chest compressions is better than doing nothing.
Training needs
Hands-only CPR and CPR with rescue breaths require different levels of training. While the basics of hands-only CPR can be taught in just a few minutes, CPR with rescue breaths requires more knowledge, coordination, training, and confidence.
The bottom line
Hands-only CPR is the way to go in most cardiac arrest emergencies. For a child, rescue breaths should accompany chest compressions.
If you’re comfortable and confident providing rescue breaths to an adult or teen, then go for it. It won’t harm the victim. Remember that a person in cardiac arrest has technically died. Their heart has stopped, there’s no breathing, and no pulse. The worst thing to do is nothing. You’re likely the person’s best – and only – chance of survival.
At Starting Hearts, we can provide you with specific training that can make a life-saving difference. Contact us for more information: info@startinghearts.org.
Patrick Golden is a healthcare writer based in Massachusetts.
