Every Canadian should be willing to offer CPR when they witness someone in cardiac arrest ”“ even if they've never been trained in it, says the group representing Canada's emergency room doctors. In a position statement on "bystander" CPR, the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians says every Canadian ought to be trained in CPR and they ought to be willing to offer it. "It must become a moral obligation and a social expectation that bystanders will perform CPR when they witness a cardiac arrest," the group writes in a position statement, published Thursday in the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine. "...There must be widespread recognition that CPR is a simple but vital life skill everyone should learn and then put into practice in emergency situations." Dr. Christian Vaillancourt, an emergency room doctor at The Ottawa Hospital and one of the lead authors of the position statement, says he and his colleagues see too many cases of missed opportunities where someone's life might have been saved if CPR had been given quickly. "Many more lives can be saved, but we need stronger inducements and a systematic approach to ensure more people in the community are prepared and ready to perform CPR," he said in a statement. That's why the CAEP says it wants CPR training to be mandatory for all Canadian high school students. CPR education is optional in many schools, but the group says it should be a pre-requisite for students to earn a high school diploma. The group would also like to see tax exemptions for companies that offer certified CPR training courses to their employees, and tax breaks for those people who take the training. More than 20,000 people go into cardiac arrest outside of hospital every year in Canada, most of them while at home. But less than 10 per cent of these people survive, the CAEP notes. That's in part because only a quarter of people who suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest receive bystander CPR. The group says that doubling that rate could save 2,000 lives a year. Pierre Poirier, the executive director of the Paramedic Association of Canada says his group supports the CAEP's position. "Paramedics often see firsthand the benefits of CPR. We know these patients have the best chance for survival. Paramedics are proud to support the CAEP recommendations for CPR," he said in a statement. CPR involves pushing deeply on the chest to manually pump blood through the heart. While the procedure sometimes helps to restart the heart, its main purpose is to maintain partial flow of blood to the brain and heart. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada updated its guidelines in 2010 to simplify CPR training. They now recommend that untrained bystanders and those who don't want to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation can simply offer chest compressions to adults in cardiac arrest. Studies show that it's the chest compressions that are most important for getting the heartbeat restored. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating. The victim usually passes out and stops breathing. It is different from a heart attack, which occurs when muscle tissue begins to die but the heart continues to beat. Source : Bystanders obligated to help heart victims: ER docs - CTV News
