Mouth to Mouth No Longer Necessary for a Person Suffering a Heart Attack

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, otherwise known as CPR, has undergone some major changes. For years the treatment of giving a person mouth to mouth resuscitation, along with pushing on the chest to keep the blood flowing, is now undergoing a change.

It has been reported that people who have not been trained in the method are reluctant to attempt CPR; only one in three people suffering from cardiac arrest are offered prompt CPR in an effort to save them before an ambulance arrives.

The American Heart Association agreed, two years ago, that if laypeople attempt CPR, without rescue breathing, it was acceptable. The American Red Cross agreed to this action. It has been discovered, in two recent studies, that ‘hands only’ CPR is as effective as the original CPR.

In the studies 3200 victims suffering from cardiac arrest were assigned to the old CPR or to the new method. When people called 911 they were instructed to deliver either the old or the new type of CPR. The results indicated that both types of CPR worked equally well on cardiac arrest patients. As a result the new kind of CPR has been approved by the experts. It is not known if both methods will be taught to new trainees in the future.