Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and basic lifesaving support (BLS)

Resuscitation is needed when the heart of the patient has stopped beating. The success of resuscitation depends primarily on the time between the heart stopping to starting the resuscitation.

How to perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

1. First check whether you can wake the collapsed person up by shaking him and by talking to him.

2. If the person does not wake up, call 112. Put your phone on speaker and continue helping the collapsed person.

3. Put the patient on their back and check if the patient is breathing normally.

• Open the airways by lifting the chin upwards and tilting the head back.
• Check if the person's chest is rising. Feel and listen the air stream from the mouth and the nose.

4. If the person does not breathe normally, start chest compressions, press 30 times.

• Find the correct place to apply pressure. Place the heel of one hand on the middle of the breastbone and the heel of the other hand on the on top of the first one.
• Press the breastbone 30 times with your arms straight at a rate of 100 – 120 times / minute. Depress the breastbone approximately 5-6 cm.

5. Begin to give mouth-to-mouth ventilation with two blows of air.

• Close the patient's nose by pinching the nostrils with your thumb and index finger.
• Place your lips tightly around the patient's mouth and blow air in his lungs 2 times. Check whether your blows make his chest rise.
• Continue CPR by alternating 30 compressions and 2 ventilations until the person shows signs of recovery, professional help arrives or you exhaust yourself.

The resuscitation of persons who have been recovered from water and are not breathing must always be started with five initial breaths. If the person’s mouth is full of water, turn the person slightly on their side before starting resuscitation to drain the water from the mouth.