January 04, 2011
No more kissing – just hard and fast CPR to the Bee
Gees
Untrained bystanders should give the kiss a
miss during CPR and concentrate on giving just chest compressions
to the beat of Stayin’ Alive.
We have become the first organisation in
the UK to actively promote Hands-only Cardiopulmonary
Resuscitation (CPR). Backed by Resuscitation Council
UK, we say anyone who doesn’t have CPR training should
now ignore the kiss of life in favour of “hard and fast”
compressions in the centre of the chest.
Our poll showed nearly half of
people are put off helping because of a lack of
knowledge about CPR. A fifth of respondents worried
specifically about the thought of the kiss of life or catching an
infectious disease.
Hands-only CPR should give lots of people the confidence and know-how to help save someone
So a national campaign,
including a
new TV advert featuring Hollywood
hard man Vinnie Jones, will help show how simple Hands-only CPR can
be, encouraging more people to help if somebody is in cardiac
arrest. We're even urging people to hum the
Bee Gees
classic Stayin’ Alive to get the tempo of chest
compressions right.
The UK-wide survey also
revealed four in ten people feared they’d be sued
if they did something wrong, despite the fact there’s never been a
successful case of that kind in the UK. Without CPR of some kind
there is a very small chance of someone surviving cardiac
arrest.
Chest compressions with rescue breaths will
continue to be part of gold standard CPR and
taught during formal training, including on our Heartstart courses.
Ellen Mason, our Senior Cardiac Nurse, said:
“The kiss of life can often be daunting for
untrained bystanders who want to help when someone has collapsed
with a cardiac arrest.
“Hands-only CPR should give lots of people the
confidence and know-how to help save someone in cardiac arrest, the
ultimate medical emergency. It’s been shown that hard, fast
and uninterrupted chest compressions are better than
stopping compressions for ineffective rescue breaths.
“It’s very simple; call 999 and then push hard and fast in
the centre of the chest at a tempo similar to Stayin’ Alive by the
Bee Gees. If you’re untrained or unconfident about the kiss of life
give Hands-only CPR a go instead - it could help save
someone’s life.”
The TV advert, showing throughout January,
will reveal a compassionate side to Vinnie Jones
as he performs Hands-only CPR to Stayin’ Alive in a deserted
warehouse, flanked by two dancing henchmen.
Former Chelsea footballer Jones said: “There
really shouldn’t be any messing about when it comes to CPR. If
you’re worried about the kiss of life just forget
it and push hard and fast in the centre of the chest to Stayin’
Alive.
“Hands-only CPR should give have-a-go
heroes the confidence to step in and help when somebody is
in cardiac arrest.”