Chest cardiac compressions

If a sudden cardiac arrest is not followed by timely and proper resuscitation, it can result in the death of the patient. Chest compressions are one of the effective methods to resuscitate patients with cardiac arrest in situ. It has the characteristics of simple method and exact effect, which is very suitable for on-site and home resuscitation.

Assume a good resuscitation position

Make the patient lie on his back on a hard board or on the floor. If the patient is in a vertical position, the trunk must be flattened and the lower limbs can be elevated if necessary to promote venous return and increase the amount of blood discharged from the artificial circulation.

Mastering compression sites

The resuscitator uses the index finger and middle finger to move up along the lower edge of the rib arch on the patient's side to the lower sternal notch, places the middle finger at the notch, and puts the index finger and middle finger together and flat on the lower end of the sternum. Then, the palmar root of the other hand is placed immediately over the index finger. The long axis of the palm root should be parallel to the long axis of the sternum, with the heart of the fingers cocked completely without touching the chest wall. This will reduce the palm contact with the chest wall and keep the downward pressure focused on the sternum, not to one side, so as not to cause multiple rib fractures. It is not possible to press the raphe to avoid impacting the liver and causing liver rupture and topping off the filling stomach and causing complications such as vomiting and aspiration by mistake.

Body posture in resuscitation

The arms of the resuscitator should be straight, both shoulders should be directly above the patient's sternum, in order to save energy, the upper body can be tilted forward, using the weight of the upper body and the strength of the shoulder and arm muscles to press the sternum vertically downward, so that the depth of downward pressure reaches 4-5 cm.

Compression mode

Compression must be carried out smoothly and regularly. Can not be interrupted, can not be violently pressed, violently loose. Because the fierce pressure and fierce loosening is likely to cause a sudden spray of blood flow, damage to the heart valves, and the amount of heart beat bleeding will not increase.

Frequency of compressions

Adults press 60 times per minute. The downward pressure and release time must be equal. The chest should not be pressed between compressions, so that the heart can fill up easily. However, the palm of the hand should not be lifted off the chest wall to avoid changing the correct position of the compressions.

Infant and child compression method

For children over 8 years of age, the method of chest compressions is the same as that for adults, while for children under 8 years of age and infants, the method is different from that for adults, with the compression site in the middle of the sternum and on the line between the two nipples for infants, and the compression site for children being lower than that for infants. When performing chest compressions on infants, the rescuer should use the middle and index fingers to perform compressions, and the depth of sternal compressions should be The depth of sternal compression is 1.5-2.5 cm, and the compression frequency is 100 times per minute. For children, the depth of sternal compressions is 2.5-4.0 cm with a frequency of about 80 compressions per minute.