BLS - CPR Then VS Now

BLS - CPR Then VS Now

Learning Basic Life Support also known as CPR-C?is an integral part of any healthcare society and is also important for many other professionals and first responders to understand. Having a Basic Life Support or BLS certification can help instill trust in your skills and confidence whenever you’re on the floor, you never know when a life-threatening scenario will occur and being confident in your skills can save lives. Having a Heart & Stroke Foundation BLS or even ACLS Certification may also help you get a new job or further your career as a Health Care Professional or Frontline worker and can look great on your resume. One question we get often is "do you know how CPR came to be and how medical professionals discovered the benefits of chest compressions and artificial respiration for their patients?"

• The start of CPR as known as Basic Life Support

CPR now known as Basic Life Support or BLS has been around for quite some time, when BLS was discovered, the importance of resuscitating a person was revolutionary. With a history dating as far back as the 1700s when French physicians studied ways to help drowning victims, CPR became a sensation. Soon after its use was implemented, around 1740, a French Academy of Sciences began recommending mouth-to-mouth resuscitation be added. This emphasis on aiding drowning victims and continuing artificial respirations continued until The Royal Humane Society was founded in London, this Society began recommending the use of medical instruments and even bellows for ventilation.

• Hall and Silvester method

After the implementation by the French in the 1700,s in early 1800's BLS CPR was improved by Dr. Hall and Dr. Silvester. These two men were London based physicians and they began making changes in ventilation techniques in the 1800s. Their theories and skill sets would be used as a standard for nearly the next 150 to 200 years across the world. Hall and Silvester theorized that, it would increase the chance of success if they inflated and deflated the lungs of their patients either by turning the patient repeatedly from side to front or by raising the patient’s arms over his head to help expand the lungs. Soon after this, they found that by applying pressure to the chest the results would increase and the chance of resuscitation would also improve.

• Chest Compressions and their importance

in the late 1800s to early 1900s, chest compressions for cardiac functioning became a main focus of medical discussion. In Germany, a surgeon, Dr. Maass, first recommended that chest compressions combined with ventilation be utilized to mimic the main functions of the human body. Now that the two skills "Compressions & Breaths" were combined, they naturally began to see an increase in results.

• History of Defibrillation

When you think about AED's and Defibrillation, you naturally would pictures a modern or Hollywood picture of two paddles shocking someone, however it dates further back yet around 1775 when a Danish physician shocked a chicken back to life. Naturally as you would suspect there is a difference between a chicken and a human, however the principals were the same and this method did held back until the 1900s when a surgeon from Ohio successfully demonstrated electric defibrillation on a human heart during surgery. Further in time around 1956, defibrillation was used to restore electrical rhythm to a fibrillating heart.

• Modern CPR

Basic Life Support CPR wasn't put to mass use until 1960 when the American Heart Association recommended that all Health Care Professionals have a standardization of medical practical skills, thus "Basic Life Support Provider CPR & AED courses were implemented. Soon after, ACLS - Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support skills were developed and utilized for Code or resuscitation teams in 1975, this universal skill set was placed as a standard and once again the chance of survival in a life threatening emergency improved.

As a medial skill, BLS CPR will continuously change and improvements researched by the American Heart Association, ILCOR "International Liaison Committee of Resuscitation" and the Heart & Stroke Foundation became leading committee's that continue to research improvements and techniques to enhance our outcomes. Skill sets in the new "Heart Saver Programs" like compression-only CPR, the use of CPR on someone who is pregnant or even Chest Compression Fraction are now discussed in classrooms across the world.

30 Compressions & 2 Breaths became the standard and still remain so:

• Improvements will never stop:

Some would say that "Nothing has changed" in the last 15 years in CPR and they would be naturally correct on most parts. However, we do point out that there are some minor adjustments that have been made and these have seen some dramatic results. Our time on this planet is short, and despite BLS being used we want to hone this skill until we have the absolute best outcome, try to remember that this is someone's "LAST CHANCE" to be here and we should always try our best.

If you haven't taken a BLS Basic Life Support Provider CPR course or updated your ACLS Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support program in a year "Its time to renew" and we have you covered. Learn Basic Life Support CPR in YEG - Edmonton by skilled professionals who have performed CPR on real people and seen success.

Let Saving Grace Medical Academy be your Saving Grace and aid in your skills to resuscitate a patient with Basic Life Support CPR. We look forward to seeing you in class!