The ABCs of CPR: What Everyone Should Know

Do you remember learning CPR? It’s recommended to refresh your CPR annually.

Airway – Assess the patient’s mouth and nose for any possible obstructions.  Things to look for may include any liquids (blood, water, …) or solids (food, dentures, …). If you can’t open the patient’s mouth, this may indicate that they are experiencing a seizure.  Do not force the mouth open by any means.

Breathing – Assess whether the patient is breathing.  This can be achieved by looking for rise and fall of the chest, feeling for airway coming out of the mouth or nose and listening for sound.

CPR – Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation should be applied to all unconscious patient’s who are not breathing or breathing abnormally but only after the implementation and assessment of the DRSAB aspect of the DRSABCD first aid action plan.  These patients should be placed on their backs on the floor whether they are an adult, child or infant. 

All patient’s irrespective of age should receive 30 compressions followed by 2 breaths when a CPR face shield/pocket mask is available, or the first aider has deemed the risks of cross infection as low.  Where a CPR face shield/pocket mask is not available or the first aider assesses the risk of cross infection as high, then compressions alone is reasonable.  

Compressions should be delivered hard and fast attempting to achieve between 100-120 compressions a minute.