American Heart Association releases new CPR guidelines
They feature a push for more public access to overdose resources like naloxone.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - The American Heart Association (AHA) has released new guidelines for CPR training, aiming to educate younger people and help with overdose assistance.
The AHA reports when a person is suffering from cardiac arrest, their chance of survival is doubled, sometimes tripled, when CPR is used.
“Everybody that’s walking around should know how to do CPR because the probability of you needing to use it is actually way more than zero,” Mike McElmeel, director of UIHC’s emergency medical services, said.
New guidelines are released every five years from the AHA with adjustments to address current needs and emergencies. Guidance released last week includes a “new algorithm for treating individuals with suspected opioid overdose, including public access guidance on naloxone use.” The CDC says emergency workers address overdoses everyday.
Other initiatives include training people as young as 12 years old and new techniques to help people who are choking. Regardless of new guidelines, McElmeel says the fundamentals of CPR, like chest compressions, will always be essential.
“If I had 10 seconds to teach somebody how to save somebody to cardiac arrest, I would tell them how to do compressions,” McElmeel said.
The AHA says people who already have CPR certificates will not have to worry about redoing their training to adjust for the new guidelines.
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