Basic Life Support

It is very important for everyone to have the knowledge of giving first aid in case of respiratory arrest because, firstly, without it the person may die, or, secondly, even though the ambulance arrives in time, the person is predisposed to remain with irreversible damages.

The neuron is a cell that can't be regenerated. The lack of oxygen caused by the respiratory arrest leads to the cells' death and the impossibility of recovery.

Many of the people who suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest and were resuscitated remained at a vegetative state (because most of their neurons have died), being unable to live a proper life, or a life at all.

The basic life support refers to actions like chest compressions, ventilation, deconstruction of the respiratory track made without medical equipment, in order to maintain the blood circulation (and with that the oxygen transport) until the ambulance arrives. The medical staff will offer advanced life support. Every country or continent has a protocol for the basic life support. In most of the European countries, the protocol indicates the following steps:

1) The environmental safety check. For example we can find an unconscious person lying on the floor in a room. In the room's air it may be carbon monoxide, so, the first step will be to open the windows and the door in order to remain ourselves conscious and to be able to drag out the fainted person.

2) The consciousness check. We easily shake the person's shoulder and ask him with loud voice if he is alright.

3) If he doesn't respond we ask for aid.

4) The victim must be turned on his back and we liberate the respiratory track by the hyper extension of the head. We make this maneuver by putting one hand on the victim's forehead and slowly pushing back his head. With the other hand we lift his chin.

The hyper extension of the head is used in order to lift up the neck muscles that lost their tone and block the respiratory way. We verify if the victim is breathing by watching the thorax, listening if there is any specific breathing sound and feeling the air on our cheek and if the case removing any visible obstructions from the mouth and nose.

5) If the victim isn't breathing, we call the ambulance.

6) We start to make the thorax compressions:

• kneel besides the victim
• put the palm on the center of the thorax and the other palm on the first hand

• cross the fingers and be sure that the pressure isn't applied on the ribs or on the abdomen
• put your arms in vertical position on the victim's thorax, keep them straight and push the sternum
• after every compression (pressing 4-5 cm down), liberate the pressure without losing the contact with the sternum

7) After thirty compressions ventilate the victim (two breaths every thirty compressions):

• put the head in hyper extension
• close the mild part of the nose with the index and the big toe from the hand that you put on the victim's forehead

• breathe normally (with a deep breath we will expire more carbon dioxide so the ventilation will be less efficient) and then seal your lips to the unconscious person's lips
• blow one second and verify if the victim's thorax expands
• let the air that you've blown to come out
• blow one more time and then resume the compressions

If the ventilation doesn't expand the thorax, verify the victim's mouth again and remove the possible foreign objects you may not have seen in the first place. If we don't manage to remove the foreign body, then we keep doing the compressions.

If there are more than one rescuers, the one that makes the compressions will be exchanged after two minutes in order to prevent fatigue (which will lessen the quality of the compressions). We keep alternating the compressions with the ventilation until the ambulance arrives or the victim recovers. We don't waste time by checking the pulse, because it is very hard to find it on an unconscious victim and the chances for her survival will decrease.

The resuscitating techniques presented are fit to the majority of cardiorespiratory arrest, but there are some cases (like, drowning, smoke inhalation or babies) when the cardiorespiratory arrest is caused by the lack of ventilation. In these cases, we will start the resuscitation by five ventilations and thirty compressions alternated by other two ventilations for two minutes and then we call for the ambulance.