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SAVE A LIFE!

Interesting facts from the American Heart Association…

* CPR can double a victim's chance of survival by maintaining vital blood flow to the heart and brain until more advanced care can be given.

* Each year, cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac arrest claim the lives of 335,000 Americans before they reach a hospital.

* Sudden cardiac death from coronary heart disease occurs over 917 times per day in the United States. The risk in adults is estimated to be about 1 per 1,000 adults 35 years of age and older per year.

* Almost 80 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home and are witnessed by a family member. Currently the survival rate of cardiac arrest victims is less than 5 percent.

* Early CPR and defibrillation (de-fib"rih-LA'shun) within the first 3–5 minutes after collapse, plus early advanced care can result in high (greater than 50 percent) long-term survival rates for witnessed ventricular fibrillation (ven-TRIK'u-ler fib"rih-LA'shun).

* In cities such as Seattle, Washington, where CPR training is widespread and EMS response and time to defibrillation is short, the survival rate for witnessed VF cardiac arrest is about 30 percent.

* In cities such as New York City, where few victims receive bystander CPR and time to EMS response and defibrillation is longer, survival from sudden VF cardiac arrest averages 1–2 percent.

www.americanheart.org

Interesting facts from the National Center for Injury Prevention & Control

Choking Episodes Among Children

Physical and developmental factors put children at risk for choking. Children who choke run the risk of death, permanent brain damage caused by lack of oxygen, or other complications associated with airway blockage. In 2001, thousands of children were treated in U.S. emergency departments for nonfatal choking episodes.

Quick Facts

In 2000, 160 children ages 14 years or younger died from an obstruction of the respiratory tract due to inhaled or ingested foreign bodies. Of these, 41% were caused by food items and 59% by nonfood objects (CDC, unpublished data).
For every choking-related death, there are more than 100 visits to U.S. emergency departments. In 2001, an estimated 17,537 children 14 years or younger were treated in U.S. emergency departments for choking episodes.
- Sixty percent of nonfatal choking episodes treated in emergency departments were associated with food items; 31% were associated with nonfood objects including coins; and in 9% of the episodes the substance was unknown or unrecorded.
- Candy was associated with 19% of all choking-related emergency department visits by children ages 14 years or younger; 65% were related to hard candy; and 12.5% were related to other specified types of candy (chocolate candy, gummy bears, gum, etc.). The type of candy was not specified in the remaining 22.5% of the cases. Candy was associated with 5% of all choking-related visits for infants less than one year of age; 25% of visits for children ages 1 to 4 years; and 28% of visits for children ages 5 to 14 years.
- Coins were involved in 18% of all choking-related emergency department visits for children ages 1 to 4 years.
- In 2001, 10.5% of children treated in the emergency department for choking episodes were admitted to the hospital or transferred to a facility with a higher level of care.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/spotlite/choking.htm

Interesting information from the University of Washington School of Medicine on the history of CPR…

Modern CPR developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The discoverers of mouth-to-mouth ventilation were Drs. James Elam and Peter Safar. Though mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was described in the Bible (mostly performed by midwives to resuscitate newborns) it fell out of practice until it was rediscovered in the 1950s.

In early 1960 Drs. Kouwenhoven, Knickerbocker, and Jude discovered the benefit of chest compression to achieve a small amount of artifical circulation. Later in 1960, mouth-to-mouth and chest compression were combined to form CPR similar to the way it is practiced today.

Here are some more facts about CPR, also from the University of Washington School of Medicine:

* Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in adults. Most arrests occur in persons with underlying heart disease.

* The typical victim of cardiac arrest is a man in his early 60's and a woman in her late 60's.

* There has never been a case of HIV transmitted by mouth-to-mouth CPR.

* In sudden cardiac arrest the heart goes from a normal heartbeat to a quivering rhythm called ventricular fibrillation (VF). This happens in approximately 2/3rds of all cardiac arrests. VF is fatal unless an electric shock, called defibrillation, can be given. CPR does not stop VF but CPR extends the window of time in which defibrillation can be effective.

* CPR provides a trickle of oxygenated blood to the brain and heart and keeps these organs alive until defibrillation can shock the heart into a normal rhythm.

* If CPR is started within 4 minutes of collapse and defibrillation provided within 10 minutes a person has a 40% chance of survival.

http://depts.washington.edu/learncpr/

Cough CPR

Have you heard about cough CPR? There was an email circulating about this. Please note: This is not recommended by professional organizations, such as the American Heart Association or ABC Health and Safety Training. Please click on the following link to learn more:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blcpr.htm

ABC Health & Safety Training, (707) 453-1410

office@abchealthandsafety.com