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2012 American Heart Association Guidelines Basic Life Support

Push Hard

Push Fast

Save Lives

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Agenda

Nurses Educational Opportunities provides BLS classes

Monday through Saturday each week. An appointment is

required and can be obtained by calling the office in San Diego or

Orange County. At the designated appointment time you will be

asked to watch a video, take the written test, and demonstrate

skills.

This First Responder prestudy guide in conjunction with the

American Heart Association (AHA) Basic Life Support Text will

nicely prepare you for your upcoming class. You must have the

new 2010 AHA BLS textbook at the time of the class. This text

book is available for an additional charge in both offices. The text

book can be shipped to you. An American Heart Association

provider card will be presented to you at the completion of the

class. Recertification courses require presentation of your recent

BLS provider card. A copy of that will also be accepted if you do

not have the original.

Lay rescuers may provide Hands-Only CPR™ (chest compressions

only) once the recognition of unresponsiveness is acknowledged

and after 911 is notified. Lay rescuers are not required to check

the victims pulse, open the airway or give rescue breaths. (2010 Update)

Healthcare Professionals should be trained BLS with the 2010 AHA

updates which are described in NEO’s First Responder study

guide.

Recognition of signs and symptoms for the following life

threatening situations is imperative to know:

Acute Coronary Syndrome (Heart attack)

Acute Cerebral Vascular Accident (Stroke)

Foreign Body Airway Obstruction

Cardiac Arrest

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Objectives

At the end of the course the participant will be able to

demonstrate the BLS 2010 updated skills using the adult, child,

and infant manikins. They are as follows:

Describe the links in the AHA Chain of Survival, including

♥ Early recognition of the need for BLS

♥ Activating emergency response

♥ Performing BLS starting with Chest Compressions

♥ Early defibrillation with the AED or manual defibrillator

Describe the steps of CPR

♥ Recognition

♥ In less than 10 seconds, check the pulse

♥ Immediate High Quality Chest Compressions

Push Hard

Push Fast

Allow the chest to recoil

Minimize interruptions

♥ Open the airway and provide ventilations

Describe the signs and symptoms of 4 major emergencies in

adults

♥ Heart attack (ACS)

♥ Stroke (ACVA)

♥ Cardiac arrest

♥ Foreign-Body Airway Obstruction

In addition, the participant will be able to demonstrate the

following skills using an adult, infant, or child manikin

♥ Rescue breathing

Mouth-to-mouth

Mouth-to-mask

Bag-mask: adult, child, infant

♥ Use of an AED for adults as well as children

♥ Relief of FBAO in the responsive and unresponsive victim

of any age.

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Life Threatening Emergencies

The major components of the circulatory system are the heart,

arteries and veins. The heart pumps blood to the arteries. The

arteries take the oxygenated blood to the muscles. The veins take

blood back to the heart, thus releasing carbon dioxide in the

lungs. When a person goes into cardiac arrest their circulatory

system is no longer moving oxygen via the blood through the

body. When you give a person rescue breaths you are pushing

oxygen into the lungs. When you give a person chest

compressions you cause the heart to pump so that it can move

the blood in its normal path and keep the person oxygenated.

Immediate Chest Compressions are imperative to provide a flow

of oxygen-rich blood to the heart and brain and “buys time’ until

defibrillation.

The rescuer should not take the time to “open the

airway, look, listen and feel for the rise and fall the chest, and

should not provide rescue breaths.” That takes too long!!!

Immediate chest compressions are needed to keep the oxygen

rich blood pumping to the heart.

Instead of AIRWAY – BREATHING – CHEST COMPRESSIONS (ABC’S)

we should now focus on CHEST COMPESSIONS – AIRWAY –

BREATHING (CAB).(2010 Update)

The Four Life Threatening Adult Emergencies are as follows:

Cardiac Arrest

In cardiac arrest circulation ceases and vital organs do not get

enough oxygen. Therefore, the victim will not be breathing

and will not have a pulse. Victims of early cardiac arrest will

often have agonal breathing.