The American Heart Association last week issued new CPR guidelines for healthcare workers as the COVID-19 pandemic heads into its third year.
The new guidelines say healthcare workers who are performing CPR should wear personal protective gear including gowns, and gloves and use a respirator.
In addition, the guidelines say a person should only give chest compressions during CPR, avoiding the mouth-to-mouth breaths that can be used in the procedure because of the risk of contracting COVID-19.
The AHA guidelines acknowledge that not everyone needing to perform CPR will have access to the protective equipment, and offer these suggestions for anyone who is trying to perform the lifesaving procedure:
· We recommend placing a face mask or face covering over the mouth and nose of the victim. If only one mask is available and it is a simple face mask or face covering, we recommend placing it on the victim.
· While CPR with breaths has been shown to be beneficial when compared to compression-only CPR, during the COVID-19 outbreak, it is currently recommended that no rescue breaths be performed for adult cardiac arrest patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, due to the risk of disease transmission.
· When assessing for normal breathing, we recommend that the CPR/first aid care provider looks for breathing but does not listen or feel for the victim’s breathing, as this will minimize potential exposure.
· We recommend that adult victims of sudden cardiac arrest receive continuous compression-only CPR from their CPR/first aid care provider until emergency personnel arrive. Note: Compression-only CPR saves lives compared to no CPR.
· Cardiac arrests that occur after a breathing problem (which is often the case in infants and young children), drowning or drug overdose may benefit from standard CPR that includes compressions and rescue breaths. Note: It is recognized that in some cases, the victim may also have COVID-19. In such circumstances, if a lay responder is unable or unwilling to provide rescue breathing with CPR, compression-only CPR should be initiated.
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