The BLS or Basic Life Support is cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a process that is performed on a person with a cardiac arrest, and with the purpose of reducing anoxic cerebral injuries that usually occur between 4 and 6 minutes when the brain is without bloodstream.
The probability of success of defibrillation decreases quickly in time: about 10% for each minute that passes.
A cardiac arrest happens when the person is unconscious, does not breath and the heart stops . Cardiac death is a sudden suspension of circulatory and breathing activities. A cardiac attack can have alarm signals like chest pain or pain to the jaw, difficulties in breathing, nausea, sense of weakness and sweating during efforts or resting.
HOW TO HELP A PERSON WITH A CARDIAC ARREST:
First evaluate if there is any danger in moving the person and if it is necessary.
Then you can proceed with the 3 phases of observation of BLS: Steps A,B and C.
-Phase A(Airway)
make sure of the state of consciousness of the person by shaking him/her and calling his/her attention; if he/she is unconscious immediately call the ER. After observe the mouth: if there are visible foreign objects remove them with caution . -Phase B(Breathing)
carry out, for ten seconds, the technique of LLF, that consists in looking at the movement of the chest, listening to breathing sounds and feeling if air comes out from the nose or the mouth. - Phase C(Circulation)
notice the presence of movement in the body. If all the 3 phases of observation give a negative result, it is necessary to perform the cardiopulmonary resuscitation that is composed by 30 thorax compressions and 2 ventilations in a continuous cycle ( simultaneously you have to hyperextend the head lifting up the chin and lowering the forehead).
To do the compressions correctly, if necessary, you have to remove the clothes from the chest and put the palm of the hand on the sternum, then compress to 5 cm of depth. In the event that there is the possibility, it is better to use the semi-automatic defibrillator.
THE SEMI-AUTOMATIC DEFIBRILLATOR:
The semi-automatic defibrillator is a device that performs the defibrillation of the walls of the heart. This machine carries out automatically the cardiac exam of the victim searching for the the pulse and then it gives off a discharge of moderate voltage.
The rescuer give off a discharge if the defibrillator doesn’t retain it necessary. In this case you have to proceed with a cardiac massage until the arrival of the ambulance. During the procedure, 2 adhesive plates (electrodes) are set below the right clavicle and the other under the left armpit in such a way that the heart is between the 2 electrodes (so the electric discharge goes from one metal electrode to the other).
Moreover, there are some essential precautions to understand before applying the stickers : the area concerned must be completely free from water, hair, clothes .Once the machine is turned on it will give the main instructions that the rescuer has to follow carefully. If there are signs of recovery, after this process, it is essential to put the person on his/her side . In this way, the event that the victim has to throw up, there is no risk of suffocation.