CRP saves lives - Are you ready to help?

Lifelessness is a situation where the heart and lungs have ceased to function. The most common cause of lifelessness in adults is related to cardiac conditions. In children, situations caused by lack of oxygen lead the statistics. Whether it's an adult or a child, quick action is appropriate.

Proper determination of lifelessness

A person who has become lifeless does not wake up. In the initial phase of lifelessness, convulsions and agonal breathing reflexes (false breathing) may occur. In agonal breathing reflex no airflow is felt. Therefore, do not let movement in the persons body mislead you. Movement in the body does not indicate whether the person is unconscious, lifeless or might still wake up!

Try to wake the person. If they do not wake up, call for help and ask another person to call 112. Meanwhile, move the person onto their back on a hard surface. If someone has collapsed in a sitting position, move them onto the floor, and if they have collapsed face down, turn them onto their back.

Lifelessness is determined by checking for breathing. Open the airways by tilting the patient's chin. If you do not feel airflow, begin CPR immediately!

Start with chest compressions

CPR for an adult begins with chest compressions. An exception is a clear suspicion of lack of oxygen, in which case resuscitation starts with five initial resque breaths. These are situations where the person being assisted has been rescued from drowning or there has been a witnessed choking.

Place of compression and hand grip

Place your hands on top of each other, fingers interlocked, in the middle of the chest.

The aim is to press down on the sternum, which runs down the middle of the chest, causing the ribs to flex and creating pressure in the chest cavity. This pressure compresses the heart thoroughly and results in blood being pushed into the circulation. With a good grip of the hands, you can focus the pressure directly on the sternum and also keep your arms straight and elbows locked.

Depth and pace of compressions

An adult's chest should be compressed 5-6 cm deep. That's quite a significant amount of pressure! On average, this means applying about 50 kg of force to the chest. This creates sufficient pressure inside the chest cavity to push blood from the heart into circulation.

Use the weight of your own body in compressions to make them as even and piston-like as possible.

The correct pace of the compressions is important in order to form blood circulation.

The compressions need to be fast enough in order to cause pressure in the blood vessels. The blood pressure causes blood circulation. Too fast compressions, however, do not let the heart be filled with a sufficient amount of blood before the following compression. According to studies, the chest compressions should be 100 - 120 compressions per minute.

Resque breaths in resuscitation

When you include breaths in CPR, the breaths come after 30 compressions. The purpose of the resque breaths is to bring oxygen into the lungs, from where the circulation picks it up and delivers it to the cells. Even though the air we exhale has already been used, it still contains oxygen. Fresh air has 21% oxygen, while the air we exhale still has 15 - 16% oxygen remaining.

Open the airway of the person being assisted and close their nostrils with your hand by pressing the nostrils against the nasal septum. Open your own lips wide so that you cover the corners of the person's mouth. Press your lips tightly around the person's mouth. Blow gently until you see the chest move. Lift your lips from the person's mouth, allowing the lungs to empty on their own. Repeat the ventilation. There should be two breaths.

After the resque breaths, immediately return to compressions. It is important that there is no more than a 10-second pause in compressions, as blood pressure can drop significantly during that time. The goal is to only have a 5-second pause in compressions for the breaths.

Defibrillation as part of resuscitation

If a defibrillator is available, it should be retrieved immediately. The faster the heart is defibrillated, the greater the chances of survival are.

Instruct someone present to fetch the nearest device as soon as you notice lifelessness. Continue with chest compressions or CPR (compressions and resque breaths) without interruption until the defibrillator is attached to the person being assisted.

Read more here about what to do if you arrive on the scene with a defibrillator. Here we discuss how to:

• cut the clothes from the chest of the person being helped
• prepare the chest area (including shaving chest hair and drying the skin)
• place the electrodes on the person's chest
• act during the analysis
• deliver the shock
• act after the shock is delivered
• stop resuscitation.