Hello, in this HealthSketch, we want to talk to you about CPR,
which stands for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
We use CPR when someone has collapsed and is not breathing
because it can keep people alive until emergency services arrive.
Learning these simple life-saving skills is as easy as ABC
all you have to remember is the 'Doctor’s ABC'.
D is for Danger
First, look around carefully to make sure the area is safe
for yourself and others before approaching
R is for Response
Shake them gently by the shoulders and ask them loudly
“Are you alright?” If there is no response, you need to...
S: Shout for help, as any assistance will be helpful
A is for Airway
Gently tilt the head back like this, to open up the airway.
B is for Breathing
Look, Listen and Feel for signs of normal breathing:
Look for normal chest movements,
Listen for normal breathing sounds and try to Feel their breath against your face
Do this for no more than 10 seconds.
If there is no sign of breathing, or if they are breathing
in an unusual, noisy way, we need to start CPR.
First, make sure that an ambulance is on its way.
If you have someone else with you, ask them to make the call.
Putting the phone on speaker mode is useful as the
ambulance service can talk you through the steps.
C is for Circulation:
Circulation means the flow of blood around the body, and when the heart stops pumping,
we need to take over this role by pushing down hard and fast on the chest.
Start by placing the heel of one hand at the centre of the person’s chest and interlock your fingers like this
With arms straightened, press down hard and fast, letting the chest come back up fully each time
Fast means around 2 times every second
and hard means that the chest needs to go down by about 5 centimetres.
This might sound a lot but you do need to push hard for it to be effective.
If you have been trained, you can give 2 ‘rescue breaths’ after every 30 compressions,
as this helps provide some oxygen.
However, if you have not been trained or are not comfortable,
just keep going with ‘Hands-only’ continuous chest compressions
If someone else is with you, swap over if you begin to feel tired,
and don’t stop until either a health professional takes over, or the person is definitely breathing normally
Sometimes, we can add another step – ‘D’.
D is for Defibrillation, which is about delivering a shock to restart the heartbeat.
Some public areas and workplaces have an easy-to-use defibrillator on site,
called an Automatic External Defibrillator, or AED
Automatic means that it is the machine that decides what to do, so you can’t go wrong,
and it even talks you through the steps.
If there is no AED available, keep going with CPR until the ambulance arrives.
That’s it! So to recap: remember DR’S ABC and if you have it, D.
That’s D for Danger, R for Response. S:Shout for help, A for Airway,
B for Breathing, C for Circulation and D for Defibrillation.
In this HealthSketch, we’ve shown you the simple steps you can take to help someone who has collapsed,
is not breathing, or not breathing normally.
Why not take a training course to practice these steps.
Share this video with friends and family to make sure we all know what to do
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