ABC's of CPR?

Question

what do u mean by ABC's of CPR?? Explain them in details please

Answer 1

Hi there- just to let you know, all the other answers were "right" until the STANDARDS changed in 2005, and implemented by the various training groups at intervals.

ABC does stand for
Airway
Breathing
Circulation

However, Circulation is now only checked in victims that are breathing (unconscious or not). When a victim is not breathing, the rescuer must now (unless they are Primary Healthcare Providers- "PCP"'s) move directly into CPR.

CPR is cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It is required when a victim is unconscious and non-breathing. The steps are as follows:

1- CHECK for hazards (fire/wire/glass/gas)

2- PINCH and SHOUT (pinch the nerves along the shoulders and yell in both ears)

If there is no response from the victim, you keep going

3- CALL for help ("hey you in the _______ shirt, call 911, I have an unconscious adult/child/infant at __(location)___. Come back when you are done, do you understand?")

4- establish an AIRWAY- head tilt/chin lift (tilt the head back so the jaw line is about 90 degrees to the ground for adult/child, or so that it moves the head into a "sniffing" position on an infant)

5- check for BREATHING- look listen and feel with your ear about 4 inches from your victims nose and mouth, and eyes looking down their body for 10 seconds.

IF THERE IS NO BREATHING:

6- Administer 2 Breaths, wearing gloves and using a CPR barrier device (Pocketmask/faceshield)

7- CPR compressions- give 30 compressions by:
-find the line between the nipples on the chest of your victim

FOR ADULTS:
-place the heel of one hand on sternum in the center of the nipple line
-place the heel of your other hand on top of the wrist of the first, interlace your fingers and pull the fingers away from the chest, so that the only contact is the heel of the first hand

FOR CHILD
-find the nipple line
-place the heel of one hand on the nipple line

FOR BOTH CHILD AND ADULT:
-you must be kneeling "up" (not sitting on your heels), leaning over the victim with your arms straight. Keep your back straight and lock your shoulders and elbows.
-compressions should be about 2 inches deep on an adult, half the chest depth for a child

FOR INFANT
-find the nipple line
-place two fingers of one hand on the center of the sternum along the nipple line
-compress using the force of those two fingers, slightly more if needed. Compress to half the chest depth


After compressions: give 2 more breaths. Repeat "endlessly" unless:
-the victim moves
-the victim vomits
-you are too tired to continue

If you are really serious about learning this stuff, I suggest you take a legitimate first aid/CPR course. The lectures I give on this topic are about 1 hour long, covering the "what if's", so trying to type it all here is difficult.

Two training programs I recommend are Red Cross and Lifesaving Society. In my experience, their programs are the best.

Your first question may be: what if the heart is beating? Without a pulse check, how can we know?
In an event that a lay rescuer (you!) would have to do this, your adrenaline would be flowing and you may feel the pulse in your fingers and attribute it to the victim, when it's really your own (happens about 95% of the time!). Plus, there's only a 2% (if that) chance that if they aren't breathing their heart will be beating.
If CPR isn't done when needed, it takes 4 minutes of lack of CPR compressions to produce biological brain death. Not cool.
If CPR IS done when the person's heart is beating, it actually takes about 45 minutes of perfect CPR to produce a disrythmia (an odd pattern in the heart beat). Disrythmia can be cured through medicine, and there are people out there with natural disrythmias, so it isn't as bad as you might think.

Because it's 4 minutes to death vs 45 minutes to throw the heart beat off, we'll go with scrapping the pulse check to take away a variable and hope that it helps them.

Remember that CPR is an imperfect science- it is always evolving. In 50 years, we'll probably look back on this and say "wow were we dumb..." but for right now, it's the best we've got.

So as for the "ABC's" of "CPR", I teach my classes:
Airway
Breathing
CPR (as in if there is no breathing, begin CPR compressions).

Hope this helps.


*Disclaimer*
Remember that my descriptions in here are not a class, you do not use them unless you take an ACTUAL course and have an actual card.
There are a lot of details to remember- go take a CLASS!!!!

Answer 2

First put on rubber gloves & organise an ambulance call. Then:
A - airway - turn the patient on their side, open their mouth & check that nothing is blocking the airway. If necesary clear anything out with your finger. Turn the patient balck onto their back.
B - breathing - check by putting your cheek close to their mouth - can you feel air movement. Feel their chest - is it rising & falling.
C - circulation - put your fingers (not thumb) on the patient's neck about half way along & just under the jaw line - you should be able to find a pulse.
Then if there's a pulse but no breathing, start assisting breathing only. If there's no pulse & no breathing start full CPR. You then need to keep going until you are told to stop by an ambulance officer or a medical professional is there to take over.
You can get reasonable first aid manuals from just about any book shop or newsagent - some supermarkets have them too - or direct from St John or Red Cross.

Answer 3

Hi just like to mention that the part of turning a patient to the side to check for a blockage is a last ditch attemp not something that should be part of the ABC,s. Unless you have seen the accident it should always be assumed with an unconscience patient that there is a chance of head or spinal injury and in that situation a jaw thrust not head tilt should be the primary means of opening an airway. If it must be done try to enlist the aid of others and keep the head and spine alignment as straight and even as possible.

Answer 4

A is for airway. The victim's airway must be open for breathing to be restored. The airway may be blocked when loses consciousness or may be obstructed by food or some other foreign object.
B is for breathing. Rescue breathing is begun when a victim isn't breathing. Someone performing rescue
C is for circulation. Chest compressions can sometimes restore circulation.

The letters in CPR stand for "cardiopulmonary resuscitation", a combination of rescue breathing (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) and chest compressions. If a child isn't breathing or circulating blood adequately, CPR can restore circulation of oxygen-rich blood to the brain. Without oxygen, permanent brain damage or death can occur in less than 8 minutes.
In other words in CPR we make the body work manually , by pressing on the chest ( heart ) and blowing in mouth .

Answer 5

Airway- check for anything blocking asophogus

Breathing- put cheek right abouve mouth and nose and watch for rising and falling of the chest. no breathing but pulse begin rescue breathing

Circulation- check pulse, if no pulse begin CPR

Answer 6

ABC is a reminder of what you should be looking for before you begin CPR

A- Airways (Check they are not obstructed)
B- Breathing (Listen & watch for signs of breathing)
C- Circulation (Check for a pulse)

Answer 7

Airway - Is the patients airway clear?, breathing - Is the patient breathin? , circulation - Do they have a Pulse?

Answer 8

Take a course, learn it well, and get certified.
. You don't learn it by watching TV