Basic Lifesaving Solutions

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:37:00 +0000

Do You Know How to Perform CPR?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:12:00 +0000

Do you know how to perform CPR? You may have taken a training course, you may have passed the exam, and you may have a card to show that you are certified. However, that does not necessarily mean that you know how to perform CPR according to the new guidelines.

In the field of medicine, advancements and improvements are constantly being made. Surgery and procedures are performed differently than they were just a few years ago, reducing the amount of pain that patients experience, the amount of time that patients remain in the hospital following surgery, and the amount of time that it takes for the patient to recover from having surgery. This is just one example of how knowledge and advancements have improved the field of medicine. Hands-only CPR is another example of how medicine has improved and advanced.

At one point in time, chest compressions and rescue breaths were administered to cardiac arrest patients. At the time, it was believed that this was the best way to perform CPR. Now, studies have shown that there is a better way. That is why CPR guidelines have changed recently. Rescue breaths are no longer given when CPR is administered. This circulates more oxygen-rich blood to the brain and reduces the risks of brain damage and death.

This is good news for many rescuers. Some people could not bear the thought of administering mouth to mouth resuscitation to a stranger. It's sad, but it's true. Now, those certified in CPR do not have to give rescue breaths, unless they are administering CPR to an infant, a child, or an adult victim of drowning or drug overdose.

Rescuers are not always emergency medical technicians, paramedics, doctors, or nurses. Some are ordinary citizens, who are certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. They often panic when faced with an emergency situation, especially if it is the first time that they are faced with a cardiac emergency, or if a family member or close friend is the victim. It is not uncommon for them to forget the chest compression to rescue breath ratio. The new CPR guidelines are also good news for these people. They can begin to administer CPR immediately, without hesitating to think about the correct compression to breath ratios.

Most importantly, hands-only CPR is good news for the victim of cardiac arrest. Studies have proven that many of these victims are resuscitated during chest compressions. The studies further indicate that the victims often lapse back into cardiac arrest during rescue breaths. The new hands-only CPR prevents this from happening.

If you are not trained in the administration of CPR, you should contact the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross. Either organization will assist you in registering for an upcoming course. If you are currently certified to perform CPR, be sure you were taught according to the new guidelines. If you weren't, you should register for a refresher course. It may mean the difference between life and death.

It is vitally important that everyone learn more about Hands Only CPR Learning and understanding these new guidelines can help save the life of a loved one.

Heart disease, cancer and other diseases may soon be diagnosed through the person's saliva

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:36:00 +0000

According to a report in Reuters, U.S. researchers were able to identify 1,116 unique proteins found in human saliva glands. According to Fred Hagen, a researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, around 20 percent of the proteins found in saliva are also found in the blood. This could perhaps lead to an easy diagnostic test without the use of painful needle injection and without a single drop of blood.

If this would be viable, it would create many clinical implications in the area of diagnostics since this would allow using the saliva to diagnose cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and many more health conditions.

In fact on another study, there is also the possibility of using the saliva to determine if the person is suffering from heart attack or just merely a simple case of heartburn.

Though the probability of using the saliva for such test is still not that close, it looks promising and all that is needed is to have a comprehensive understanding of the saliva proteome.

First Aid for Chest Pain

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:34:00 +0000

Chest pain may sound minor at first, but it can be the sign of a more serious problem. In some cases a person with chest pain may have had a history of heart attacks or other chest problems. By knowing the right methods of first aid for chest pain you can help a person who is suffering from pain and to help reduce the level of injury from chest pain.

The first part of first aid for chest pain is to recognize what the signs of chest pains are. Chest pains are normally identifiable by a person having shortness of breath and tight feelings. These can be signs of a possible heart attack in many cases.

When administering first aid for chest pain you will need to watch for certain things before calling for emergency help. If the person has had chest pains for a long period of time or there is a great amount of sweating coming with the chest pains then you will need to call for emergency help and get the person to a hospital. While first aid for chest pain can help, it is important to know when to contact a hospital to help get the victim�s oxygen and blood flow levels back to normal.

Part of first aid for chest pain involves determining if you should call for help or go to the hospital on your own. Chest pains can develop into heart attacks after about fifteen minutes, but if you are feeling chest pains and are alone you may need to drive yourself to the hospital. However, calling for emergency help can work because driving with chest pains is not always recommended.

One important part of first aid for chest pain is to make sure the victim is not doing anything to make the pain worse. If a person is having chest pains be sure to keep that person from doing anything and to have that person rest so that the pains do not become any more severe.

The windows in the area you are at should be opened. This is important for first aid for chest pain because fresh air will be let in. Also, CPR should be started on the victim.

Tight clothes that the victim may be wearing should be loosened so that circulation of blood and oxygen in the body will improve.

If a doctor has prescribed nitroglycerin for the chest pain victim be sure to get the person to take it according to the doctor�s orders. Aspirin can help if the chest pains are moving towards the neck or arms.

The last part of first aid for chest pain involves being able to get help as soon as possible. The amount of time between pains and a heart attack will be short if the heart is not beating well. If you are giving CPR you will need to alternate between CPR and thumping on the victim�s heart so that beating levels can increase.

Remember, first aid for chest pain caused by gas does not require such severe treatments. Antacids or soda water can help in these cases.

New CPR method boosts survival from cardiac arrest

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:31:00 +0000

More people can survive a cardiac arrest when emergency medical workers use a new resuscitation method that starts with a round of 200 chest compressions before a defibrillator shock, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

Rescue teams in Arizona who used the new approach on people who had a cardiac arrest outside the hospital tripled the survival rate of the standard approach.

"Cardiac arrest is incredibly common and survival is poor," said Dr. Bentley Bobrow, medical director for emergency services for the state of Arizona and a researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.

The new resuscitation method, which is not intended for bystanders, increases blood flow to the heart and brain when the heart stops pumping blood.

"Even if you could improve survival by a few percentage points, you will save thousands of people across the country," said Bobrow, whose study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

For bystanders, the most important thing is to give chest compressions while waiting for an ambulance, many experts say.

Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops circulating blood. Most often, people with cardiac arrest have a type of heart rhythm known as ventricular fibrillation, in which the heart quivers but does not pump blood.

If no shock is delivered in the first four minutes of this deadly rhythm, the heart stops altogether and it becomes much harder to get it restarted. During this phase, old-fashioned chest compressions can help push blood back into the heart, making it more likely to restart.

WAITING TO DEFIBRILLATE

As most emergency teams do not arrive on the scene in that critical first four minutes, the new resuscitation approach calls for a round of 200 chest compressions given in the first two minutes to improve the odds that the heart will restart.

"Traditionally, we've told them to defibrillate right away. When they do that, the patient dies frequently," Bobrow said in a telephone interview.

In 2004, only 3 percent of people in Arizona who had a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survived.

Bobrow wanted to improve those odds. He and colleagues studied the use of minimally interrupted cardiac resuscitation, a highly choreographed method of CPR for emergency medical workers that is also called cardiocerebral resuscitation.

After the first 200 compressions, the victim gets a shock, then another worker jumps in and gives another set of 200 chest compressions. At that point, they may give a shot of epinephrine to stimulate the heart, and then insert a tube into the trachea to ventilate the lungs.

The approach is focused on continuously pumping blood to the heart and brain. Bobrow's team trained emergency workers in two city fire departments in the state, then compared the survival data before and after in 886 patients with cardiac arrest. The data were collected between 2005 and 2007.

The rate of people who lived long enough to be discharged from the hospital rose from 1.8 percent before the training to 5.4 percent using the new protocol.

The benefit was greatest for those who had ventricular fibrillation with a shockable rhythm. Survival in those patients rose from 4.7 percent to 17.6 percent.

Dr. Mary Ann Peberdy of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond said the findings suggest the need for a back-to-basics approach to cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Hands Only CPR, New CPR Guidelines Saves Lives

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:20:00 +0000

New Hands on Only CPR for Bystanders Is Kick Starting Hearts

New Science and research has discovered that when an ordinary bystander participates in hands on CPR with a cardiac victim then the victim has a better chance of surviving.

When I attended nursing school back in 1996 there was only one way to learn CPR. They taught us to tilt the head back and listen for breathing. If the person wasn’t breathing normal then we were supposed to check the airway for obstruction. When we found no obstruction we were to breathe twice in the person’s mouth and then give 15 compressions to the chest. As Science continues to progress things begin to change. Now it is 30 compressions with the original CPR, compared to the 15 that we used to do. Now with new AHA guidelines released in March any ordinary bystander can give the new hands only CPR.The new hands on only CPR is designed to provide bystanders a simple way of helping people in need. It consists of only two steps: 1)To call 9112)To give the victim hard and fast compressions to the chest, about 100 per minute. This is so simple that anyone can do it. There are people that know CPR but yet are hesitant in doing mouth to mouth with someone they do not know. They are afraid of catching some dreaded disease. So for those that are hesitant in doing mouth to mouth they can always use the new hands only CPR. It’s a scary thing for people to see someone collapse in front of them. A lot of times not knowing what to do will put them in a state of panic. That’s why the American Heart Association/AHA has simplified the methods of CPR.

They know that time is critical to a collapsed victim. Any bystander nearby is better than none. However a lot of people are afraid of hurting someone instead of helping them. With the more simplified new hands on only CPR the AHA can give ordinary people and bystanders more confidence in knowing what they are doing. Around 310,000 Americans die each year from cardiac arrest and only 6% outside of the hospital survive. Some statistics may vary depending on location. However the people that get the hands on only CPR have a better chance of surviving. The AHA is now saying that the Hands only CPR is just as effective as the conventional methods previously used. People who have been trained with previous CPR courses can now opt to use the hands only method. The AHA hopes by doing this there will be more people that will jump in to help when a person has collapsed and needs cardiac care.

How to survive a heart attack when alone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:13:00 +0000

Many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack.A person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint has only about ten seconds left before losing consciousness.However the victims can help themselves by coughing vigorously and repeatedly.A deep breath should be taken before each cough,deep and prolonged as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let up until help arrives. Deep breath gets oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm.

Hands Only CPR Now Recommended for Cardiac Arrest

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:05:00 +0000

The American Heart Association is now recommending that the hands-only CPR approach be used on adults who have a cardiac arrest. To do this procedure, a person would do rapid and deep presses on the victim’s chest until help arrives and mouth-to-mouth breathing would not have to be done. It suppose to work as well as the standard CPR practices.

If there is a person needing immediate medical attention for risk of cardiac arrest you would call 911 and then press hard and fast on the middle of the person’s chest until paramedics arrive and take over or an automated external defibrillator is available to restore a normal heart rhythm. These actions should only be taken for adults that unexpectedly collapse, stop breathing, and are unresponsive.

Doing mouth-to-mouth breathing is recommended for a child that collapses and adults that suffer from not enough oxygen from near-drowning, drug overdose, and carbon monoxide poisoning. In these situations, mouth-to-mouth is needed to get air into the lungs and bloodstream.

Chest compression only CPR or Hands only CPR, gaining ground

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:57:00 +0000

I believe that most of us are hesitant to provide CPR considering that we always have the fear of having or being infected with a disease. A new guideline has been release which now gives the CPR provider and option to provide chest compression only CPR or hands only CPR. There are certain things that you should know however before doing this procedure. It would be best to read the whole guideline from this link:

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.189380

Several studies have indicated that the moment a person goes into arrest, there is still oxygen in the blood and doing chest compression only may save the victims brain from suffering brain damage prior to the arrival of the EMS.

Learn CPR and save a life

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:54:00 +0000

PR training with AED: Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation training with AEDCardio-Pulomonary Resuscitation is the application of artificial breaths and external chest compression to any person who has suffered a pulmonary and cardiac arrest. This procedure has saved thousands of lives already. Learning CPR is not actually that difficult. All you need to do is attend a CPR training course from any qualified CPR instructor. The course usually takes a day, which involves discussion and CPR demonstration using a CPR dummy. Once you passed the course, a CPR card will be issued signifying that you have succesfully passed the course. This is commonly called, CPR privider card.

Several organizations provides this training like the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, Emergency Care and Safety Institute, American Safety and Health Institute, National Safety Council. The training is usually provided by their accredited instructors who are authorized and accredited to sign the CPR cards in behalf of the said organizations.

CPR training is avaialable internationally and are often a requirement for the workplace setting. Meaning, severals states or countries require that several number of employees in the company should undergo CPR training and should have a valid CPR card.

The Truth About Cough CPR or Self CPR

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:43:00 +0000

Many have been save by Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation. It is a procedure of providing artificial breaths and external chest compression to any person who is not breathing and whos heart is no longer pumping.

Just recently, a procedure called cough CPR has been circulating in the Healthcare community. This procedure is sometimes called Self CPR.

Probably, you are thinking as to how can you provide artificial breaths and chest compression to yourself. Basically, the procedure does not involve any of those.

Cough CPR actually involves inhaling air and forcefull coughing. It has been thought that by inhaling air well provide the person with oxygen and forceful coughing will somehow provide the heart some sort of external compression.

To set things straight, the American Heart Association does not recommend cough CPR. It has been noted that perhaps it started during cardiac catherization when the patient suffers an abnormal heart beat. This is actually a monitored condition usually with the use of ECG machine and within the hospital operating room setting, when such abnormal heartbeat or rhythm is discovered, the nurse or doctor often advised the patient to cough. When this is done, the patient coughing may provide the brain with oxygen to keep him conscious until the abnormality is gone or treated.

It is therefore clear that such procedure is only applicable in a controlled condition and recognizing the early signals of heart attack is still the best option.

First aid training

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:39:00 +0000

First aid training can make a difference between life and death

First aid is the immediate temporary care given to a victim of accident or sudden illnes. This may sound so simple but knowing first aid and providing care to a victim of accident can often mean the difference between life and death, temporary or permanent disability, and rapid recovery or long hospitalization.

Several victims of accident are often not given basic first aid and usually dies while heading to the hospital due to blood loss, cervical fracture, and some suffer permanent disability (paralysis) due to improper transport.

First aid training usually involves discussion on common emergencies such as burns, wounds, bleeding, poisoning, fracture, fainting, stroke, heart attack and other common medical emergencies. It also includes practical exercises such as bandaging, emergency transportation, splinting and other skills demonstration such as CPR and management of airway obstruction.

First aid certificates usually has an expiry of 2 to 3 years and are often a requirement when working in a company. However, requirement or not, learning first aid brings great advantages since it will teach the person how to respond and provide help not only to others but to the self as well.

The Good Samaritan Law

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:35:00 +0000

When a person helps assist or helps in an injured victim, there is actually that fear of getting sued. This has been the common fear among any individual who provide aid or assistance to victims of accident. Most often this is the common factor why people are reluctant to provide care.

Well, perhaps it would be useful to know that there is actually a law that protects an individual against lawsuits when providing first aid care to a victim of accident.

This law is called the Good Samaritan Law. This states that a person providing first aid or care is immune from any lawsuits provided the first aider was:

- Acting in an emergency
- acting without payment
- acting with no guilt or misconduct
- acting without malice
- acting with consent from the victim
- acting within the scope of first aid training

Clearly this law has encourage many people to provide care during an accident. Simply because this has somehow given the first aider some sort of protection. However, there is no substitute for proper first aid training.

Technologies that change our lives

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:25:00 +0000

According to Live Science, there are several technologies that have made impact in our lives. Among others, gene therapy, therapeutic cloning, solar cells etc. Found below are technological breakthroughs that may soon become a part of our daily lives:

Hydrogen Economy – instead of using the traditional oil, water could be turned into hydrogen. A very efficient burning fuel. As an added advantage, the only byproduct during combustion is wather

Desk to 3d Printing – Instead of going to the store for your next gadget, you will just have to download a design of your choice and generate it in your desktop 3D printer

Mobile Robots – Robot cars will soon navigate the roads.

Wireless Internet everywhere – the world will soon be connected as one. Anywhere you go there will be a wireless connection considering the trend of WIMAX, 3G, 4G.

Digital Libraries – The time will come when any questions will be answered by just a click of the button since all facts and data will be stored conveniently.