The Heart Foundation now encourages untrained rescuers to give compressions-only CPR to someone in cardiac arrest, skipping rescue breaths unless told otherwise by the Triple Zero operator. The charity's advice for bystanders boils down to three steps: "Call, Push, Shock."
Simon Cowie, a former paramedic and the Heart Foundation's cardiac-arrest spokesperson, said any attempt at CPR was better than none. "But when someone is unconscious and not breathing, they're effectively dead," he said. "There is nothing worse."
According to the foundation, only one in 10 people survive a cardiac arrest outside hospital, but that figure doubles if someone starts CPR early and jumps to 60-70 per cent when CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) are used within the first three to five minutes.
The rescue breaths, two for every 30 compressions, weren’t always being done effectively, Cowie explained. He said the compressions were working to move blood around to the brain and organs and build up the patient’s blood pressure, so it made no sense to stop doing that in order to do something less effective. When someone becomes unconscious, he added, their blood has residual oxygen in it.
The "call" step means ringing triple-zero, and the "shock" step means using an AED if one is on hand. Compressions alone will not restart a stopped heart. While waiting for paramedics or a defibrillator, the patient should be lying flat on a hard surface. The rescuer kneels beside them, places one hand on the centre of the chest and the other on top, linking fingers, then, with locked elbows and body weight, delivers about 100-120 compressions a minute, to the rhythm of the Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive or Row, Row, Row Your Boat. For an adult, the compressions need to be firm.
For children, infants and newborns, the advice is to use, respectively, one hand on the centre of the chest, two fingers on the lower half of the breastbone, and two thumbs on the lower third of the breastbone, compressing the chest to about one-third of its depth.
Cowie said the task could seem daunting to some, but said waiting for help was not an option. “Without your assistance,” he said, “this person probably won't survive.”
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The change lowers the barrier for bystanders: untrained rescuers no longer need to switch between breaths and compressions, and can keep up the chest compressions that move blood to the brain and organs.
- Time decides the outcome: the Heart Foundation puts survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest at one in 10, doubling with early CPR and reaching 60-70 per cent when CPR and an AED are used within three to five minutes.
- The "Call, Push, Shock" sequence gives the public a simple, memorable routine to follow while waiting for paramedics, with the caveat that compressions alone will not restart a stopped heart.
Background
CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is the emergency procedure used to keep blood flowing to the brain and organs when someone's heart has stopped. Standard first-aid training long taught a cycle of 30 chest compressions followed by two rescue breaths. The Heart Foundation's current advice for untrained rescuers is to concentrate on compressions and leave rescue breaths to those who are trained or to instructions from the Triple Zero operator.
What to Watch
- The first three to five minutes after a collapse: the gap between the one-in-10 baseline and 60-70 per cent survival shows that how quickly a bystander starts compressions and finds an AED is the decisive variable.
- Whether bystanders act on "Call, Push, Shock" while help is on the way, since the advice depends on an AED being available and on compressions continuing until paramedics arrive.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedThe Heart Foundation now encourages untrained rescuers to give compressions-only CPR unless the Triple Zero operator instructs otherwise.WA Today - Latest News: “the Heart Foundation now encourages untrained rescuers to focus on compressions only, unless instructed otherwise by the Triple Zero operator.”
- SupportedThe bystander advice boils down to “Call, Push, Shock.”WA Today - Latest News: “These days, advice boils down to “Call, Push, Shock”.”
- SupportedCowie said an unconscious person who is not breathing is “effectively dead.”WA Today - Latest News: ““But when someone is unconscious and not breathing, they’re effectively dead,” says Simon Cowie”
- SupportedCowie said, “There is nothing worse.”WA Today - Latest News: ““There is nothing worse.” Cowie’s point is that any attempt at CPR is better than none.”
- SupportedCowie is a former paramedic and the Heart Foundation’s cardiac-arrest spokesperson.WA Today - Latest News: “Simon Cowie, a former paramedic, now cardiac-arrest spokesperson at the Heart Foundation.”
- SupportedAccording to the Heart Foundation, one in 10 people survive cardiac arrest outside hospital.WA Today - Latest News: “according to the Heart Foundation, only one in 10 people survive a cardiac arrest outside hospital”
- SupportedThe survival figure doubles if someone starts CPR early.WA Today - Latest News: “though this doubles if someone starts CPR early.”
- SupportedSurvival chances rise to 60–70 per cent when CPR and an AED are used within the first three to five minutes.WA Today - Latest News: “Survival chances jump to 60-70 per cent if CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) are used within the first three to five minutes.”
- SupportedRescue breaths are two for every 30 compressions, and were not always being done effectively.WA Today - Latest News: “The rescue breaths [two for every 30 compressions] weren’t always being done effectively, explains Cowie.”
- SupportedCompressions alone will not restart a stopped heart.WA Today - Latest News: “Compressions alone (the “push”) will not restart a stopped heart; a shock is needed.”
- SupportedRescuers should deliver about 100–120 compressions per minute, to the rhythm of “Stayin’ Alive” or “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”WA Today - Latest News: “commence compressions – about 100-120 per minute. Pump to the rhythm of the Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive or, if that’s not in your repertoire, Row, Row, Row Your Boat .”
- SupportedCowie said, “Without your assistance, this person probably won’t survive.”WA Today - Latest News: ““Without your assistance,” he says, “this person probably won’t survive.””
