NEW ORLEANS -- There is a high rate of diabetes, obesity, smoking and high blood pressure in this area, all health issues that lead to heart disease. So would you know how to save a life if a person went into cardiac arrest?
Now there is a newer way to keep someone alive while waiting for help to arrive.
When you think of the Bee Gees' song "Stayin' Alive," the American Heart Association says forget leisure suits and the disco, and think of saving a life.
For many years health care professionals and regular people in the community have taken a course to learn how to do those two breaths then 30 chest compressions over and over to keep the oxygen flowing and circulating in a person who is in cardiac arrest. But even in trained people, only 22 percent of people will jump in and initiate CPR. And in minutes without oxygen, vital organs such as the brain begin to fail.
"You may be able to restart the heart, (but) the person may not ever open their eyes again, they may never speak again, they may never get out of a bed again," said Dr. Lawrence Cresswell, a doctor of osteopathic medicine and emergency physician at Ochsner.
But it can make people uncomfortable to do the mouth to mouth resuscitation part, especially to a stranger. So studies were done to see what would happen if a person just did continuous chest compressions. And the result was favorable.
"There was really no difference in survival of patients who received adequate chest compressions with ventilation, or rescue breathes, or without," said Dr. Cresswell.
So the experts want you to know how to do these newer continuous chest compressions. With the patient on the ground, not in a bed, put your knees close in. Put the heel of your interlocked hands in the middle of the chest and pump non-stop, elbows locked, kind of in a rocking motion. You'll need to use all your body weight, moving your arms up and down is not enough.
And that's where the song "Stayin' Alive" comes in. It is a perfect beat for the right pace, the 100 compressions per minute. And in your best late 70s Bee Gees falsetto voice, follow that beat.
"You can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man, no time to talk," sings the reporter.
Well actually, since CPR is a workout, you'll want to save your breath and sing to yourself.
"We do tell them CPR is hard work, but it does save lives," said Kay Eddleman, an instructor and program coordinator for the American Heart Association Ochsner Community Training Center.
"If you initiate CPR and you start delivering oxygen to the brain, to the heart, to the vital organs, you are doubling that person's chance of survival," said Cresswell.
This instructor hears first hand about the difference a little bit of knowledge can make.
And they'll come up to you and they'll say, 'You know, by the way, two weeks after I took your course my aunt was choking at the dinner table and I was able to save her life.' So it's very rewarding," said Eddleman.
So remember two things: call 911 so help is on the way and start your "Stayin' Alive" compressions. Of course, adding mouth-to-mouth is always best, but remember, doing something is always better than doing nothing.
Instructors say that they see an increase in family members come in to learn CPR when a loved one is diagnosed with heart disease.
If you'd like to take a class call the Ochsner Community Training Center at 504-842-6684.
