When you see an adult suddenly collapse, use Hands-Only CPR: that's CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. And it can help save lives.
Hands-Only CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. It is recommended for use by bystanders who see an adult suddenly collapse in the "out-of-hospital" setting. It consists of two steps:
Call 911 (or send someone to do that).
Begin providing high-quality chest compressions by pushing hard and fast in the center of the
chest with minimal interruptions
The American Heart Association recommends conventional CPR (that is, CPR with a combination of breaths and compressions) for all infants and children, for adult victims who are found already unconscious and not breathing normally, and for any victims of drowning or collapse due to breathing problems.
-AHA
AHA Hands-Only Advisory
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I've posted these strips before. It is an ETCO2 readout while the patient has just been intubated during CPR, but before the ambu-bag has been attached and ventilation begun. (I always attach the capnofilter to my ET tube before I intubate.) The tiny bumps are CPR, each compression creates a small tidal volume that releases CO2, ventilating the body by compression only. The large wave is from the first ambu-bag ventilation on the just placed ET tube.
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Based on a code I did yesterday at a nursing home, I would add some nursing home workers to the bystander category. Even with multiple hands and an ambubag, it is rare to see ventilations done properly, and even when they are done well, they are often at the expense of good compressions.
