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No! The American Heart Association (AHA) is strongly advocating performing Hands Only CPR. The only two steps for lay rescuers to provide lifesaving CPR is to call 911 and start chest compressions by pushing hard and fast on the center of the chest. That’s it. Do not worry about hurting the victim or doing anything wrong. By performing Hands Only CPR, you can only improve the chances of survival for that victim. Please checkout www.handsonlycpr.org for more information.

BLS CPR for Health Care Providers is CPR specifically for doctors, nurses, EMT’s, dentists, dental hygienist, or any other profession in the health care field. This CPR training includes two rescuer CPR, Rescue Breathing, Pulse checks, and lecture about physiology and cardiac rhythms. HEARTSAVER CPR is specifically for lay rescuers such as teachers, construction workers, and the general public. This CPR training is the introductory level class that teaches the basic skills of CPR to empower and increase the confidence of basic rescuers to perform CPR in everyday emergencies.

CPR is an acronym for Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. Cardio relates to the heart, Pulmonary relates to the lungs, and Resuscitation means to revive.

AED stands for Automated External Defibrillator. AED’s are machines that are used to shock the heart. AED’s are becoming very common because they greatly increase the chances of survival. If a rescuer can start CPR and deliver a shock from an AED within the first minute of a person collapsing from a cardiac arrest that person has a 90% chance of surviving.

Realistically,there are only two critically lifesaving SKILLS that you have to remember. The first is calling 911. CPR alone will not typically restart the heart and bring someone back to life. It takes professional EMTs and paramedics, pushing drugs, administering oxygen, and using an AED to restart the heart. The only way to get those professionals to the emergency scene by calling 911. The second lifesaving skill is chest compressions. The whole purpose of CPR is to move blood and oxygen to the heart and brain. The only way to move that blood and oxygen, if the heart has stopped, is by chest compressions. Chest compressions, move fresh blood and oxygen through the heart and brain keeping those vital organs healthy, viral, and gives them the ability to respond to professional care.

The ratio for single rescuer CPR for adult, children, and infants is 30 compressions to 2 breaths. Although if you have a witnessed adult collapse you then can perform Hands-Only or Compression Based CPR. Hands-Only or Compression Based CPR is performing 200 continuous chest compressions and then reassessing the patient for breathing. You do not have to perform any breathing for the patient while doing Hands-Only or Compression Based CPR.

NO! When you start the steps of CPR that person is clinically dead. You doing CPR will not make that person any worse off than dead. CPR will only help. You will probably hear awful sounds when you are doing chest compressions, but those sounds mean you are doing hard, deep compressions which are crucial for that person’s survival.

Once you start CPR you have to continue until someone takes over CPR for you, you are physically exhausted, or the scene is dangerous for you or the victim.