CPR steps change: Chest 1st

Associated Press

DALLAS

New guidelines out today switch the steps for CPR, telling rescuers to start with hard, fast chest presses before giving mouth-to-mouth.

The change puts “the simplest step first” for traditional CPR, said Dr. Michael Sayre, co-author of the guidelines issued by the American Heart Association.

In recent years, CPR guidance has been revised to put more emphasis on chest pushes for sudden cardiac arrest. In 2008, the heart group said untrained bystanders or those unwilling to do rescue breaths could do hands-only CPR until paramedics arrive or a defibrillator is used to restore a normal heartbeat.

Now, the group says everyone from professionals to bystanders who use standard CPR should begin with chest compressions instead of opening the victim’s airway and breathing into their mouth first.

The change ditches the old ABC training — airway-breathing-compressions. That called for rescuers to give two breaths first, then alternate with 30 presses.

Sayre said that approach took time and delayed chest presses, which keep the blood circulating.

Under the revised guidelines, rescuers using traditional CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, should start chest compressions immediately — 30 chest presses, then two breaths. The change applies to adults and children, but not newborns.

The guidelines also say that rescuers should be pushing deeper, at least 2 inches in adults. Rescuers should pump the chest of the victim at a rate of at least 100 compressions a minute — some say a good guide is the beat of the old disco song “Stayin’ Alive.”