Sudbury – If someone needed life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, would you know what to do?
New guidelines have been put in place to make it easier for people untrained in first aid to provide CPR. Today, officials at Health Sciences North/Horizon Santé-Nord (HSN) staged a CPR Challenge involving local dignitaries to demonstrate the new technique for CPR.
Under the new guidelines, bystanders untrained in CPR are not required to provide rescue ventilation (mouth-to-mouth). Instead, bystanders should provide chest compressions only. Compressions are done in the middle of a person’s chest, at a rate of at least 100 compressions per minute, and with at least a 5 cm (2 inch) compression of the chest for adults, 4 cm compressions for children, and 2-3 cm compressions for infants. The guidelines were developed by the American Heart Association and adopted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
“Studies suggest that CPR using only chest compressions is just as effective as CPR with ventilation,” says Renee Fillier, a Nurse Clinician Educator in the Intensive Care Unit of HSN. “Studies also indicate that bystanders may be reluctant to provide CPR because they’re not confident they’ll do it correctly. By making CPR more simple and easy, we’re hoping more bystanders will be willing to offer help that could save someone’s life.”
The CPR Challenge was part of a day-long campaign to educate staff at HSN about the new CPR guidelines. “As an academic health sciences centre, we are always looking for opportunities to teach new skills and enhance knowledge,” says Dr. Chris Bourdon, Vice-President of Medical and Academic Affairs at HSN.
Dignitaries taking part in the CPR Challenge included Greater Sudbury’s Mayor, Her Worship Marianne Matichuk, representatives from Greater Sudbury Police Services and Emergency Medical Services, the YMCA, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Today’s CPR Challenge also featured a proclamation from Mayor Matichuk declaring February 7-10, 2012 as CPR Awareness and Education Week in Greater Sudbury.
“I think that today’s CPR Challenge is an important step towards educating our citizens and medical professionals on new CPR procedures and guidelines,” says Greater Sudbury Mayor Matichuk. “I sincerely believe that this valuable information will go a long way towards ensuring that untrained residents and bystanders have the confidence and skills needed to help save someone’s life.”
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Health Sciences North/Horizon Santé-Nord is grateful for the ongoing support of the community through its foundations, Health Sciences North Foundation and the Northern Cancer Foundation, and the HSN Volunteer Association.
Contact:
Dan Lessard
Media and Public Relations Officer
(705) 523-7118, ext. 4
(705) 507-4031 c
dlessard@hsnsudbury.ca
For further information about the HSN and its services, visit our website, www.hsnsudbury.ca