CPR..... learn it.... save lives....

Imagine you are driving down to the city from your office through a smooth, usually less traffic road, and witnesses a terrible road accident…. Whole day’s work force may prevent you from keeping your toes on the break pedal….. But the human being in you will make you think, how can I help? May be the result is you will dial 100 or you will dial the emergency services number that the radio jockey of your favourite FM channel in your car audio system announces periodically…… Of course that is a necessary measure…. Almost all cities in India have emergency services available to help in road accidents, like operation sanjeevni of Bangalore city, which even have a high-tech life support vehicle known as ICU on wheels….. and even the helicopters which serves as air ambulances are available in with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Manipal hospital and Sparsh Hospital…. Most of high-tech hospitals are providing their emergency care services including fully equipped ambulances, paramedics or even nurses and doctors… in case of growing cities like Kochi, voluntary services like Kochi city action force, which consists of auto and taxi drivers, who will swing in to action as soon as an accident occurs….. But the condition of the victims of the road accidents may be in a way that they will keep themselves from not sinking till the professional help arrives…. You may be the first person who is in the spot after the accident or you may find so many others who are driving past with out looking in to that…. As an educated person you have responsibility to that fellow being or may be you will be in a situation like this some day….who knows….??…. Some times your timely action may help to save a life…. In the news papers daily you can find so many victims of accidents lying alone in the road, without getting proper attention or may be waiting for the arrival of the medical facility, or may be on the way to the hospital, due to lack of first aid….. There are some emergency measures that we can save a persons life. CPR or Cardio pulmonary resuscitation is one of the important life saving measures…. Not only in road accidents, but also due to many other causes like shock that we will encounter with a person in a death like appearance…. In most of such cases the heart beat and breathing will be nil… such a person cannot wait for the emergency services to be arrived…. So all the health care facilities in the world identifies CPR as the most important part of first aid…. In our Country India, we can find that the most citizens are unaware of CPR. In an aid to educate civilians about CPR, so many organisations organised various programs…. A group of Students of M.S Ramaiah Medical College Bangalore conducted a program to educate people of the Garden City, which is having the chain of medical facilities which are one of the best in the country. They successes in forming a help desk that people can help themselves in getting more information. Recently in state of Kerala, a program to train civilians in basic life support by the help of various medical colleges.

CPR consists of artificial ventilation accompanied by external cardiac massage is now considered as an emergency procedure that should be taught to all adults and older children. When one encounters an unconscious person with a death like appearance the immediate step is to determine the person’s state of responsiveness, breathing and pulse. The rescuer shook the victim’s shoulders and shouts “Are you ok?”. If there is no response and breathing is absent and breathing is absent, the persons head is tilted back ward and the lungs are ventilated four times quickly with out waiting for full deflation between breaths. The carotid pulse ( pulse of the vein in the throat) is quickly palpated and if pulse is absent, 15 external cardiac compressions are given. The victim must be in a supine position on a firm surface for effective external cardiac compression. The rescuer kneels beside the victim lying in the floor or ground. If the victim is in the bed, the rescuer either stands beside beds, which ever position facilitates maintenance of straight arm position by the rescuer. The technique is as follows: 1. Place the long axis of the heel of one hand over the lower half of the victim’s sternum, about 4cm from the tip of the Xiphoid process. 2. Place the other hand on top of the first hand with the fingers interlaced. 3. Move forward with elbows straight so that the shoulders are directly over the victim’s sternum. 4. Excert pressure downward to depress the sternum 4-5 cm. 5. Release the pressure over the sternum with out removing hands. 6. Repeat the cycle at the rate of 60/minute. Compressions must be smooth and regular with relaxation of equal duration. A single rescuer performing CPR uses a 15:2 ratio, or 15 external cardiac compressions followed by two quick lung inflations. CPR is best carried out by two persons. The person performing artificial ventilation quickly inflates the lung after every five chest compressions, with out any pause in chest compressions. For small children, only one heel of one hand is used for cardiac compressions, and for infants only one tip of the index and middle fingers are used. Pressure is exerted over the middle of sternum rather than lower half as in adults. The infant’s chest is compressed to 1 to 2 cm and that of small child, 2 to 4 cm. The rate of compression is 80-100/minute, with quick ventilation after every five compressions. During two person rescue the effectiveness of CPR is monitored periodically by the person performing ventilation. The carotid pulse, breathing and papillary response are checked. Pupils that respond to light indicates the victim’s brain is receiving oxygen. Pupils that remain fixed indicate that serious brain damage has occurred or is imminent. It must be remembered, however, that the person’s age and the use of drugs such as narcotics or atropine also affect papillary response. Complications: Injuries such as fractures of the ribs or sternum, laceration of the liver with internal bleeding, and injury to lungs, may be complications of CPR. Effective CPR is mandatory, even if it results in complications, since the alternative is death. Each and every life in the world is valuable, as that’s only one man cannot restore.