Approximately 350,000 people in the U.S. experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, and a staggering 90% of them do not survive.
Doctors with the American Heart Association want to improve the odds for Missourians and others by developing a new set of CPR guidelines aimed at providing effective ways for people without medical training to save lives.
Dr. Ashish Panchal, emergency department physician at Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University, said bystanders need to act immediately when someone's heart stops.
"In that moment when CPR has started, that rescuer's hands are the patient's heart," Panchal explained. "Every beat, every compression makes blood flow through the body, into their brain, and brings that person one step closer to being home with their family, neurologically intact."
The new guidelines, published in the journal Circulation, represent the first update to CPR guidelines since 2020. Panchal pointed out the updates include a single streamlined Chain of Survival for all cardiac arrest scenarios, and increase emphasis on both quality compressions and rescue breaths.
Panchal noted there have been major advancements in the science surrounding CPR and the guidelines provided to the public. Education options include in-person classes, online courses, and blended learning, with local training centers and institutions available. Universities and colleges, such as Missouri State University, often provide certified CPR classes.
"It's a volunteer-led effort which is really focused on telling the story of the newest science," Panchal observed. "Let's be honest, there's an exponential growth in science, and that science has to be translated into something that we can use on an everyday basis."
Panchal added that raising the number of CPR certifications can significantly improve the cardiac event survival rate in your community.
"We need to think about what the simplest, most direct way that you, me, every person can save a life," Panchal emphasized. "That's what the CPR guidelines do for lay rescuers. It tells us the most straightforward manner in which we can have a huge impact in our community."
This story was originally published by Missouri News Service, part of the Public News Service and a partner with KRCU Public Radio.
