TUESDAY, April 1, (News Locale) - A patient who suffers a sudden heart attack may be able to survive even if the subsequent cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) efforts do not include mouth-to-mouth ventilations, the American Heart Association has acknowledged. 

The Association said that even if bystanders who see a person collapse after a sudden heart attack are not well versed in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, they should still administer chest compressions as it can save a life.

Current guidelines say that CPR must include 30 chest compressions followed by two mouth-to-mouth ventilations. The new guidelines do away with the mouth-to-mouth requirement.

The latest recommendations are detailed in the AHA journal Circulation.

Cardiac arrest is the sudden stoppage of the heart regardless of whether any underlying heart condition is present or not, according to the American Heart Association. Sudden death occurs within minutes after a arrest and therefore these initial minutes are vital for the patient's survival.

Most bystanders are not conversant with CPR and hence watch helplessly as life flutters out. However the American Heart Association said that giving chest compressions may help save thousands of lives per year.

"Many times people nearby don't help because they're afraid that they will hurt the victim and aren't real confident in what they're doing," said Michael Sayre chair of the AHA panel that modified the existing guidelines.

Last March a Japanese study had advocated CPR without mouth-to-mouth ventilation. Researchers at the Surugadai Nihon University Hospital in Tokyo that mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing might actually hamper the chances of survival in a cardiac arrest patient. Chest compressions alone are enough to revive a person whose heart has stooped beating. The researchers also said this procedure had the potential to limit brain damage as well.

Halting chest compressions in order to administer mouth-to-mouth actually hindered survival of a heart attack patient because it reduces blood flow and can lead to brain damage.

Reacting to the Japanese study, the American Heart Association had said in a statement that it supported compression-only approach "for anyone who is unwilling or unable to provide ventilations while providing chest compressions. This study supports the concept of lay providers performing compression-only CPR in the first few minutes after witnessing an adult suddenly collapse."

The main fear for bystanders who see any victim of a sudden heart attack is the risk of contacting infections if they administer mouth-to-mouth breathing. About two-thirds of cardiac arrest patients taken to hospitals are unable to survive, but bystanders can increase their chances of survival by administering chest compressions quickly.

"Hands-Only CPR will increase the chance that someone can and will help when an adult suddenly collapses and more lives will be saved," the AHA concluded.

To learn more, please visit, http://handsonlycpr.eisenberginc.com/faqs.html

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