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Show CPR Means Life Cri ni itip u I inn nary rr s u sc irt -lion. They're two long words that can mean life. CPR, as it is often called, is a form of basic life support to keep a victim breathing, and keep blood circulating throughout the Ixxiy, after a person has suffered cmid-urn. cmid-urn. it - that is, after the heart has stopped beating. This may happen as the result of an injury, suffocation or - most often - heart attack. It is an emergency measure, used to keep a person alive until more advanced life support sup-port is available. It can be learned bv almost anvone. "We'd like to make CPR training available to all communities," com-munities," commented the Chairman of the American Heart Association Emergency Cardiac Care Committee. "It takes a few hours to learn. It can mean a lifetime." One million Americans each year suffer heart attacks. Almost tifiO.OOO die from them - more than Wf' before even reaching the hospital. The Heart Association believes that thousands of lives might Ik; saved if CPR were more widely known throughout the country. CPR involves a combination of mouth-to-mouth breathing and closed chest compression. It can be learned by supervised practice on mannikins designed especially for CPR training. It should never be f practiced on a living person. American Heart Association records indicate over '2 million persons, nationally, and over To.OOO persons in Seattle have been trained in CPR. In the first live years of an intensive training program in Seattle, 511 lives were saved - because someone knew cardiopulmonary cardiopulmo-nary resuscitation, and reacted quickly. "Rapid action and presence of mind are most important in performing CPR," the Committee Com-mittee Chairman emphasized. In order to prevent brain damage, he explained. CPR must be performed within the first few minutes after a victim vic-tim has stopped breathing. Within 4-6 minutes after cardiac arrest, the brain will not receive enough oxygen to supply all its cells; in those parts of the brain where the cells are starved, they will start to die, anil cannot be replaced. Cell death in other parts of the body will follow. How can you learn CPR? Check with your local Heart Association. They may le able to give information on the CPR training class nearest you. |
