How To Perform CPR

You don’t need to be a doctor to be able to perform CPR. Anyone can learn!

In fact, this life-saving activity is something that every person should know how to do. Understanding how to perform CPR can help save lives, and the following steps detail how to go about performing CPR.

However, just reading about it isn’t enough. To perform CPR the correct way, it’s always a great idea to receive the proper training by a certified medical practitioner.

Before we list the necessary steps, remember to relax and stay calm. Gather your thoughts and take a deep breath. Even bad CPR is better than none at all. You can do this!

Step 1: Call an 911

If you sense abnormal or no breathing, the ideal approach is to ask someone to call 911 while you get started on performing CPR. However, if there’s no one around, call 911 yourself.

Step 2: Check for a Response and Seek Help

Before you start assisting a patient, it is best to identify the risks and dangers that the unconscious person is facing. Gently shake the person by their shoulders and ask whether they’re alright. If you see someone around, ask them to stay with you as they might be of help. If you’re alone, call out for help. You should not leave the patient under any circumstances.

Step 3: Examine the Patient’s Breathing

To determine whether the person is experiencing a cardiac arrest, check their breathing by looking for chest movements, feeling for their breath on your cheek, or listening through their chest. If you don’t see, feel or hear them breathing within 10 seconds, it’s a cardiac arrest, and a CPR should follow immediately.

If, on the other hand, you sense normal breathing, put the person into the recovery position (on their side), and call an ambulance.

If you sense abnormal breathing, you need to clear the person’s airways. To open the airway, gently push the person’s forehead back using one hand, then place two fingers of your other hand under the person’s chin and lift it up. This way, their airways should open up.

Step 4: Perform Chest Compressions

To perform chest compressions, you will first need to kneel down close to the person. Put the heel of one hand (with your palm facing downward) in the middle of the person’s chest, and then put the other hand over the first. 

Now, interlock the fingers. Keeping your arms straight, firmly push down the breastbone by 1 to 2 inches using the heel of one hand before releasing. 

Perform around 100-120 compressions every minute or 2 compressions per second. 

Do not stop performing chest compressions until the ambulance arrives, or you start to get tired. If you start to get tired, ask someone to take over from you.

Step 5: Provide Rescue Breaths

2 rescue breaths should be given after every 30 chest compressions. Once again, tilt back the person’s head and lift the chin to open the airway. Seal their mouth with yours and steadily breathe inside their mouth. This should allow the person’s chest to rise and fall. Repeat the procedure in a way that both the breaths take a maximum of 5 seconds.

If you don’t feel comfortable giving rescue breaths, stick to the hands-only CPR after calling the ambulance.

Step 6: Keep Repeating

Keep the chest compressions going until the ambulance arrives, or you see the person showing signs of consciousness, such as opening their eyes, speaking, coughing, or breathing, then place in recovery position. In case you feel tired, and there’s someone around, ask them to help with the CPR.

If you know how to perform CPR, you can help keep someone alive until help arrives. If you follow the steps listed above in the correct order, you should be able to keep the person’s heart pumping until the medical team comes and administers proper care.