You’re taking notes on your professor’s lecture when they pause. You glance up from your notebook—only to see them motionless on the floor. What do you do? As Mayo Clinic assures, it’s better to do something than nothing at all, regardless of your level of emergency medical training. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
CPR
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was most likely what you first thought of. And it’s not surprising—in fact, this emergency technique has become a requirement in many professions. However, it’s also useful in other emergencies where heartbeat and breathing have ceased. When doing CPR on adults, keep in mind the AHA’s acronym C-A-B to remember the order of the steps:
- Compressions: Once you have made sure that the scene is safe and checked that the person is unconscious, call 911. Next, begin compressions. Put the person flat on their back on a solid surface. Place the heel of your hand in the middle of their chest, between their nipples, and put your other hand atop the first. With elbows straight, use your upper body weight to press straight down at least 2 inches deep, at a rate of 100 to 102 compressions per minute. A good way to keep tempo is by singing the Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive.”
- Airway: Once you’ve done 30 chest compressions, tilt the person’s head back with a hand on their forehead and two fingers beneath their chin. This maneuver, called the ‘head-tilt, chin-lift,’ opens the airway for rescue breathing.
- Breathing: Then, to make a seal for mouth-to-mouth breathing, pinch the person’s nose shut and place your mouth over theirs. Deliver the first rescue breath, about a second long, and watch for the chest to rise. If their chest rises, deliver the second breath. If it doesn’t, redo the head-tilt, chin-lift and deliver the second breath. After you have given 2 rescue breaths, continue the cycle (30 chest compressions and 2 breaths).
Keep performing CPR until signs of life, an AED, or medical professionals arrive. However, if the scene becomes dangerous or you become physically exhausted, end CPR.
Although these steps cover general adult CPR, consider taking a course to become certified and ready for any situation.
Heimlich Maneuver
For cases of choking, the Heimlich maneuver is the go-to. The American Red Cross recommends what they call a “five-and-five” approach: alternating between five back blows with the heel of your hand between the choking person’s shoulder blades and five abdominal thrusts. Like CPR, the Heimlich maneuver has different versions for different ages of people, but we will be focusing on the technique for adults:
- Stand behind the choking person with your arms around their waist. Bend the person slightly forward.
- Make one hand into a fist and place it just above the person’s navel.
- Then, with your other hand holding your fist, press hard into the person’s abdomen with a fast thrust upward. It will be like you’re attempting to lift them.
- Perform six to ten abdominal thrusts until the object causing the choking has dislodged.
Now that you’ve learned CPR, you will need to perform this medical technique should the person become unconscious.
Act F.A.S.T.
Although technically not an emergency technique, this simple acronym succinctly lists the signs and symptoms of a stroke. Acting F.A.S.T. to identify a stroke early can not only save someone’s life but also their brain from possible permanent damage. The American Stroke Association provides a breakdown and questions to ask a potential stroke victim:
Face Drooping: Strokes cause one side of the face to go numb. Ask the person who you suspect to be having a stroke to smile. A stroke is likely if they smile and one side of their face goes up while the other doesn’t.
Arm Weakness: Similarly, one arm typically becomes numb or weak. Ask the person to extend both of their arms out in front of them. In people having a stroke, one arm is lower than the other, slowly falls downward, or doesn’t rise at all.
Speech Difficulty: As strokes affect the brain, speech becomes more and more slurred; the person may be hard to understand or become incapable of speech altogether. Ask the person to say and repeat a simple sentence to test for this symptom.
Time to Call 911: Each of these symptoms presents a threat to life. Even if they happen to disappear and things seem back to normal, call 911 and get the person to a hospital as soon as possible—you don’t want to risk future disability or possible death.
Think and act F.A.S.T., wherever you may be.
After Reading
So now you know 3 emergency medical techniques in cases of cardiac arrest, choking, and stroke. Where do you go from here? Practice these medical techniques to keep yourself ready at all times, take note of the AEDs in buildings as you go to class, and sign up for an official First Aid Training class to become certified in one or more of these techniques. You never know if you just might need to save a life.