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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Interrupting chest compressions

What's the big deal about interrupting chest compressions?

Have you ever pumped water from a well with a hand pump?
  • You don't get water from the pump on the first few pumps, but eventually it gets flowing. You don't get blood to the brain with the first 5-8 pumps, but eventually it gets flowing.
  • When you stop pumping for a bit, the pump looses its prime. The older the pump, the more the check valves and gaskets start leaking, and the faster the pump looses its prime.
The same thing happens in CPR - the older the patient, the faster the pump looses its prime, and the longer it takes to get the blood flowing to the brain.

If you stop for only a few seconds, it could take as much as ten seconds to restore the blood flow to the brain.

Don't stop - and this is why the S.A.L.T. airway is so important: it permits paramedics to intubate cardiac arrest patients without interrupting chest compressions.

Bob