Music for CPR

Just about any quick popular tune will work.

The researchers mentioned that "Another one bites the dust" works well too, but for some reason they didn't want to use that. It would probably be more accurate, as the survival rate is not very good, especially after the patient has been down just a few minutes. It also has a good beat, so it might be easier to follow.

Incidentally, if you just pump and don't take time to do the breathing part of CPR, you double the chances of survival. Stopping the compressions to put air in the person lost the thoracic pressure, and let the blood pool for a bit more. Pooling of the blood is a serious problem, because it is very difficult to get it moving again. If they go down and is unresponsive, start pumping and just keep pumping. If they complain, stop. The breathing by perfusion caused by the pumping will be sufficient. If not, well, then its not...

I believe the new recommendations are that you do not stop for breathing.

Much to the consternation of older emergency medical personnel, they no longer require pulse checks before cpr is started. Apparently, the general public is likely to miss the pulse anyway. The authorities used to worry about supraventricular tachycardia, but I guess that isn't too much of an issue. I've had a few bystanders who were thrilled that they revived someone after just a few pumps. It would have been more thrilling if the patients were unresponsive due to a heart issue instead of something completely unrelated.

You can monitor your progress on cpr by watching the neck veins. When they turn pink, you are doing good CPR, regardless of the rate. Somehow they don't teach that in the courses, but its a handy method.

I was in an exam one time when I pumped about 40 times before any breaths were put in. The nurse who was running the exam freaked out because I didn't follow the (recently changed and soon to be changed again) protocol to the letter. Given that I would have nearly doubled the patients chances of survival by not stopping to breathe, I wasn't too thrilled with her assessment.

Studies have shown that doing something, even poor CPR improves the chances of survival. Having a nice defibrillator around and knowing how to use it improves them further.

Michael