The Kiss Of Life
Mouth to Mouth Resusitation
(with pics)
If someone's stopped breathing, you need to remember and administer these life saving procedures.
A is for AIRWAYS open
B is for BREATHE for your casualty
C is for CIRCULATE the blood by chest compression
Oh, and we'll just add D for DON'T PANIC AND DO A
RUNNER.
Mouth to mouth is simple and works really well for people who still have a pulse but aren't breathing well or easily. Often it is all you need to bring someone around. If there is no pulse and no breath, move straight to chest compressions combined with mouth to mouth.
Artificial ventilation (mouth to mouth/ kiss of life etc) is quick and efficient and should prevent the casualty from deteriorating any further until help arrives. Resuscitation should be continued even if you are in doubt about whether the casualty is being revived.
When the person goes over.....
First you need to check the breathing of the casualty. When someone has stopped breathing they will almost certainly be unconscious. In order to check breathing, place your ear above the persons mouth and look along the chest and abdomen. If they are breathing you will see and feel and breaths or chest movements. If breathing is regular then place the person in the recovery position until help arrives or they wake up. Keep checking on them regularly.
NOW; if checking to see if the casualty is breathing, pinch their earlobes, put your cheek to their mouth to feel any breaths. If they are breathing 4 or less times a minute – they are in serious trouble. If you have established that the person is not breathing, or not breathing enough, you then move on to the
ABC procedure.
A - Opening the persons AIRWAY.
The unconscious persons airway may be blocked or narrowed which would make breathing difficult or impossible. Blocked airways happen for a few reasons; the head may be tilted forward, narrowing the air passage; muscular control in the throat can be lost, allowing the tongue to slip back in the throat - or since reflexes are impaired, saliva or vomit may lie there also, again blocking the airway. Any of these situations can lead to death and your mouth to mouth will not be effective anyway unless you check the airway first.
With an open airway, your casualty may start breathing spontaneously.
They should then be placed in the recovery position if you're satisfied the breathing is regular enough.
A-Clearing the AIRWAY
How to clear the airway?
- Place one hand under the neck, the other on the forehead and tilt the head backwards. This extends the neck and opens the air passage.
- Transfer your hand from the neck to push the chin upwards and the tilted jaw will lift the tongue, again clearing the airway.
- Clear the airway of any foreign material like loose teeth, dentures, vomit etc by turning the casualty's head to the side, hook two fingers together and sweep them through the mouth. (fig1) Don't spend to long here though. Then move on to B.
fig 1
B - BREATHING for your Pal
The air we exhale contains about 16% of oxygen which is easily enough to sustain life. Mouth to mouth ventilation makes it easy to watch the casualty's lungs for movement - showing that they are filling, and also shows up the changes in skin pallor. Hopefully the skin will move from a bluey/grey colour back to a more normal colour. It is easiest to carry this all out when the casualty is on their back but it should be started immediately no matter what position.
How?
1- So, kneeling alongside the chest area, with the head turned back to the tilted back position, block the persons nostrils with two fingers and open your mouth wide - take a deep breath and seal your lips around their mouth. (Fig 3)
fig 3
2- Looking along the chest, blow into the casualty's lungs until you can see the chest rise to maximum expansion. (fig 4)
fig 4
3- Move your mouth well away from the casualty and breathe out any excess air. Watch the chest fall and take in a fresh breath. Repeat inflation.
Give the first 4 inflations as quickly as possible without waiting for complete lung deflation between breaths. (Fig 5)
fig 5
4- Check the casualty's pulse to make sure the heart is beating. This must be checked now and after every three minutes until the person resumes breathing normally, If the heart is not beating now - go straight to C and chest compressions.
You check for a pulse by placing you hand around the hollow in the front of the neck (between the voicebox and adjoining muscle). The wrist is unreliable in this instance so use the neck/throat area.
5- If the heart is beating normally, continue to give inflations at a normal breathing rate - 16-18 times per minute until natural breathing is restored. Then place them in the recovery position. (Fig 6)
fig 6
That's all there is to it. You just continue mouth to mouth and checking the pulse every 3 minutes.
C - Assisting the casualty's CIRCULATION
If mouth to mouth alone is unsuccessful and the heart does not resume or continue beating, you must perform -
External Chest Compression in conjunction with mouth to mouth ventilation. Click here for details.