There is no high-tech equipment needed, no elaborate procedure to follow. Life-saving intervention in an emergency can come down to interlocked hands and the confidence and knowledge to apply 30 compressions and two breaths — the basics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
“You are the first link in the chain of survival,” said instructor Ray Whitaker, elder fitness and safety coordinator at the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard.
Mr. Whitaker was speaking to a small class of six comprised of staff from Mass Audubon’s Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown. The sanctuary runs a popular summer camp, and hosts a number of programs throughout the year. Staff members, including Suzan Bellincampi, sanctuary director, were there to be recertified in CPR as a requirement of employment.
The Y periodically offers basic CPR instruction classes. Many of those who attend do so to meet a job requirement. Mr. Whitaker made the point that irrespective of one’s job requirements, knowing how to perform basic CPR is a skill everyone ought to have.
“If it was a loved one, what would you do?” he asked.
According to the American Heart Association website, 88 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home, yet 70 percent of Americans “may feel helpless to act during a cardiac emergency, because either they do not know how to administer CPR or their training has significantly lapsed.”
Mr. Whitaker described a situation where a person is confronted with a cardiac emergency but does not know what to do. While CPR is not always successful, he said, it can give someone a chance to survive until they reach more advanced care.
“Effective bystander CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim’s chance of survival, but only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander,” according to the American Heart Association.
The rule of emergency care is: check-call-care.
The first rule is safety. The person who is responding to an emergency situation must check the scene to make sure he or she does not become another victim. Is there someone who can help? What is the condition of the victim?
The second rule is calling for help. Contact emergency service providers through 911 or other means.
The third rule is to provide emergency care.
The class began with a video that provided various staged scenarios. The most dramatic clips were those of individuals, average people, speaking about real-life situations in which they had saved a life with CPR.
CPR for an adult begins with clearing the airway so the person can breathe. This may be as simple as raising the person’s chin to tilt the individual’s head back, opening the airway.
The next and most well-known step is chest compressions: elbows locked, fingers intertwined — 30 compressions — followed by two breaths and another cycle of 30 compressions, five times. It is strenuous work.
That Saturday morning, working in teams, the class practiced on dummies that provided some sense of the work involved in inflating a victim’s lungs, and pressing the chest with enough force to insure life-saving blood flow.
“I’m going to save you,” said one woman as she stooped to a dummy to begin administering CPR. Acquiring confidence is as much a part of the skill set as technique.
The class also provided an opportunity to become familiar with AEDs, the small portable machines, often conveniently located in public places, that can be used to save a life by restoring an electrical impulse to the heart.
“These things are fantastic,” Mr. Whitaker said as he provided a set of training AED that did everything but provide an electrical jolt.
The AED can analyze a victim’s heart and determine if it requires a shock. Once the machine is charged it issues a verbal command cautioning the caregiver and any bystander to move back. The class members practiced placing the AED pads on the dummies and following the instructions.
Mr. Whitaker reminded the class that AEDs are not a substitute for CPR compressions.
Emergency cardiac care for a child or a baby differs from that of an adult. The class also practiced the scenario for CPR for a child, which entails two breaths preceding chest compressions. Felix Neck has an AED designed specifically for children, should it ever be needed.
Unlike with an adult, a first responder does need parental permission to apply CPR to an infant. Compressions are administered with the forefinger and middle finger.
The class went through the steps. Emergency care in the event of stroke, choking, and bleeding were also touched on.
Kevin Montambault, a Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School senior and summer camp counselor, said the class was important for him. “I definitely feel a lot better now,” he said. “It’s given me more confidence.”
Mr. Whitaker emphasized that emergency care is often about what not to do as much as it is what to do — do no further harm — and a good dose of common sense.
“Your sense of calm and ability to calm somebody in an emergency situation is equally important,” he said. “Getting excited will not help the situation.”
For more information on CPR classes at the YMCA, call 508-696-7171.