Click here to watch a video
about the latest lifesaving
techniques through Hands-only CPR.
health for your
Stayin’
alive The new and improved CPR
By Alice Shapin
OUT FOR A run on a beautiful Florida
day, 52-year-old Costco member Tom
Maimone collapsed at mile nine in a
neighbour’s driveway. Luckily, Tom
Elowson, also a Costco member, was
driving by when it happened. Immediately, Elowson jumped into action and
started chest compressions while humming
the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” (to maintain the
correct pace) as a neighbour called 911. “I
had never had any formal CPR training,” says
Elowson, who had seen a demonstration of
Hands-Only™ CPR on a TV talk show and
remembered it.
arrives. AEDs are portable machines that
monitor the heartbeat
of a person who may
be in sudden cardiac
arrest, determine if a
shock is needed and administer the shock. Experts now
believe that if you start CPR
right away and then use an
AED, you will have the
best chance of saving a life.
AEDs are easy to use and are found in many
public areas—and even in many homes.
When the paramedics arrived nine
minutes later, they shocked Maimone’s
heart. Maimone survived, but most people
in this situation don’t. According to the Heart
and Stroke Foundation of Canada, it’s
estimated that about 45,000 Canadians
experience a cardiac arrest—that’s one arrest
every 12 minutes. Research shows that about
85 per cent of these cardiac arrests occur
outside of the hospital, in homes and various
public areas.
Help save a life
Remember the basics:
Inaba adds, “Many times bystanders
[are] too afraid to do anything. They think
that they might do further harm to the person. But you cannot hurt or harm someone
who is already dead. After years of research it
was found that Hands-Only CPR can be a
simpler and more comfortable alternative to
the conventional procedure.”
1. Call 911 or have someone
call for you.
2. Yell for someone to find an AED.
DNY3D/ SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Dr. Alson S. Inaba, division head of pediatric emergency medicine at the Kapiolani
Medical Center for Women and Children in
Honolulu and a Costco member, says, “When
someone is in sudden cardiac arrest, [with]
the abrupt loss of heart function, just calling
911 and waiting for the paramedics isn’t
enough. By the time the paramedics arrive,
the chance of survival is often zero.”
3. Start chest compressions by pushing hard and fast on the
lower half of the breastbone, at
least 100 beats per minute and
5 cm ( 2 inches) deep, until the
AED or emergency services
arrives. (Separate guidelines
exist for children.)
To mitigate bystanders’ fear of CPR,
Inaba made Hands-Only CPR even easier.
He discovered that the song “Stayin’ Alive”
has about 100 beats per minute—the same
rate the guidelines recommend for CPR
chest compressions.
For years CPR began with the A-B-C
sequence, which starts with the procedures
that rescuers find most difficult, namely,
opening the airway and delivery of breaths,
followed by chest compressions.
Take a course: Go to www.redcross.ca
and click on “Find a Course
in Your Area”; or go to
Inaba says, “If you’re unwilling or unable
to do conventional CPR [which involves
both chest compressions and rescue breaths],
call 911 and push hard and push fast on the
lower half of the victim’s breastbone to the
rate of at least 100 compressions a minute.”
Sing “Stayin’ Alive” (or have someone
nearby do it) to help you stay on
St. John Ambulance,
www.sja.ca, for local
courses.—AS
The Costco
track. And, he adds, “When either
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But in 2010, the guidelines for cardiopul-monary resuscitation (CPR) and emergency
cardiovascular care, written by the American
Heart Association (AHA) and co-authored
by the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada,
changed from the A-B-C sequence to C-A-B,
putting compressions first. Furthermore, the
guideline emphasized the need for a compression rate of at least 100 per minute and a
compression depth of at least 5 cm ( 2 inches)
in adults.
Hands-Only or conventional CPR
is started immediately, it can
double or triple a person’s chance
of survival.”
CPR courses are
offered across the
country by several or-
ganizations, including
the Canadian Red Cross,
the Heart & Stroke Foundation,
As for Tom Maimone, he’s
healthy. Plus the two Toms are
now great friends and work as vol-
unteers to spread the word about
Hands-Only CPR. C
St. John Ambulance and the Lifesaving Society.
They teach doing the C-A-B sequence until
an automated external defibrillator (AED)
Freelancer Alice Shapin took a CPR course
after writing this article.
