According to the Cardioprotection Study in Spain 2016, only 30% of Spaniards know how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR.

Cardiac arrest kills around 30.000 people in Spain every year. Survival is around 5% but it could increase to 15% if CPR maneuvers are performed, and up to 30% if there is also a defibrillator program. This means between 4.500 and 9.000 fewer deaths per year in our country alone.

There is the possibility that at some point the need to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation arises and it must be known what it consists of and its procedure. The survival of a cardiac arrest depends to a large extent on a series of chained actions that can be carried out by the people around the person who suffers the arrest.

Well, what is a basic CPR?

It is an emergency life-saving procedure performed when someone has stopped breathing or has a heart attack, in which a person's breathing or heartbeat has stopped.

How to do CPR correctly?

It is important to recognize if there is cardiorespiratory arrest when someone falls to the ground and does not respond. In case of not breathing or not having a pulse, a series of steps must be initiated to verify if the victim is in cardiorespiratory arrest.

The first thing to do is check if the victim is conscious. If so, we leave it in the position in which we found it and call 112. We will wait for the emergency services to arrive and we will continually reassess it. If they do not respond, the person is placed lying on their backs on the ground and we will open the airway using the forehead-chin maneuver to verify that they do not have anything that prevents them from breathing.

Secondly, we will check if there are chest movements, we will listen if it makes noise when breathing or if we feel the breath with our cheek or hand. If he is breathing normally, we will continue to reassess the victim promptly until the emergency services arrive. In the event that you are not breathing, we will call the emergency services and indicate very clearly where we are and that we are with a victim of a possible cardiorespiratory arrest.

It is essential that the blood continues to flow through the organs and is achieved through chest compressions. You have to kneel next to the victim in order to be able to perform a basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation, we will place the heel of one of our hands in the center of the victim's chest and the heel of the other hand on the first and we will intertwine the fingers. Finally, with a rhythm of 100 to 120 compressions per minute, we will press the victim's chest without interruption. If CPR is still lacking, continue until signs of movement are noted or emergency medical personnel take control. If, on the other hand, you are trained in CPR, open the airway and provide rescue breathing.

Finally, after 30 compressions, 2 rescue breaths are performed in which we have to see how the chest inflates to assess that we are doing it correctly.

En Neosalus We want to offer you the best caridoprotection for you and your loved ones to provide prompt attention to this type of problem. Ask us for more information by calling 900 52 56 78 and we will solve all your doubts and questions.