Fifty Thousand Lives (1959)

these things unfortunately are everyday they are frequently accompanied by a 50 and this condition is the primary cause of death for University has this to say every year 50,000 people die needlessly because of its six-year that could have been prevented these lives can be saved if proper resuscitation methods are used at six years the condition caused by lack of oxygen and an excessive carbon dioxide in the body without oxygen the brain dies within three to five minutes and the heart soon stops beating at six years associated by most people with drowning or smoker gas inhalation yet actually it may accompany any accident causing unconsciousness electric shock poisoning injuries to the head neck chest or abdomen it may even be caused by convulsion cardiac arrest or obstruction of the air passageway yet most victims of asphyxia could be revived if sufficient air to be gotten into their lungs without delay this diagram shows what happens in normal breathing an average conscious adult quietly inhales about 1.45 hundred cubic centimeters of air per breath in an unconscious person the neck usually bends forward and the jaw Bank this tends to push the tongue over the air passageway and block a six-year develops because less and less air and get through to the lung the average adults cannot survive with less than 1 when obstruction of the air passageway is complete breathing efforts and heart action stop within a few minutes this can happen regardless of whether the victim is on his back or on his stomach until now the methods of artificial respiration used to relieve this condition were for the most part manual push-pull method such as the shaper method the Sylvester method the Holger Nielsen method recent medical research supported by the Surgeon General of the United States Army has demonstrated three areas in which these manual methods are decisions first they tend to produce obstruction of the upper air passageway by the time so that little or no air can enter the lungs second even when obstruction is not present the manual methods may still not move sufficient volumes of air to revive the victim you will notice that the average amounts of air moved by these methods is below the critical level and third because of his position in relation to the victim the rescuer has no way of knowing whether or not his efforts are moving air to the victims nose and mouth on the basis of a review of available data including the records of actual revival of victims in emergencies the National Research Council the United States Armed Forces and most medical authorities now recognize that artificial respiration with the rescuers own breath or excitation with exhaled air resuscitation the rescuer can maintain an open air passageway by filling the head backwards and pulling the jaw forward and he can move an average of three pints of air per breath into the victims lungs the matter of fact this method is not new in the Bible in the Book of Kings the prophet Elijah attempting to revive an apparently dead child quote put his mouth upon his mouth and the child revived here is how you can perform life-saving artificial respiration with your own breath this man could have been a victim of any type of accident he is not just his breathing has stopped he will die within minutes unless prompt and effective rescue breathing is begun at once place the victim on his back face up approach his head from the left clean his throat only if necessary by forcing the mouth open and wiping the throat clean with your fingers or a piece of cloth tilt his head back into the chin up position grasp his lower jaw with both hands just in front of the earlobe and hold it forcefully upwards the lower teeth must be in front of the upper teeth and the front of the neck must be stretched if the mouth is closed hold it open by pushing the lower lips gently toward the chin with your thumb never let the chin sag as this causes blockage of the air passageway take a deep breath cover the victims entire mouth with your mouth to make airtight contact and blow press your right cheek against the victims nose to prevent air leakage blow forcefully into an adult gently into it watch the chest when the chest Rises take your mouth off and let the victim exhale by himself when he is finished exhaling blow in the next deep breath repeat inflation's every two to five sec same procedure but with these differences in a child breathe into the mouth and nose and blow gently in a baby do not blow but use puff from your cheek medicine here is an alternate method insert the thumb of your left hand between the victims teeth grasp the lower jaw and hold it upward forcefully pinches nostrils with your right hand take a deep breath and place your mouth tightly over his mouth and your own thumb and then proceed in the manner already described direct mouth-to-mouth breathing is effective because it gets adequate amounts of air into the victims lungs and this fall was available however as a result of experiments conducted at the department of anesthesiology Baltimore City hospitals under the auspices of the Surgeon General United States armie a device called the resusci tube airway was developed it is made of plastic it provides a mouthpiece for the rescuer a breathing tube for the victim and a flange to prevent air leakage for adults insert the long end into the victims mouth for children over two years of age invert the flange and insert the short end this is the pediatric size for children under two the resusci tube makes mouth to mouth breathing more effective and easier to perform it prevents obstruction by the lips and teeth and holds the tongue forward now watch how the resubstitute was used to revive an unconscious non breathing victim place him on his back face up guilties head backward as far as you can if you feel no breathing through mouth or nose forces mouth open with your thumb and index finger cross if you have difficulty forcing the mouth open insert your index finger between he competes and wedge it between the jaws behind the back piece hold the resusci tube so that your mouthpiece turns back toward you insert the other end over the tongue do not push the tongue back into the throat if necessary hold the tongue forward with your finger during insertion the flange should be cut over his mouth pinch his nose with your thumb press the flange over his mouth with your index fingers to prevent air leakage and pull the chin up and toward yourself so that his head is tilted backwards take a deep breath and blow into the mouthpiece of the result you watch the victims chest at all times blow very forcefully into an adult blow gently into a child when his chest Rises off and let him exhale by himself repeat the inflation's every two to five seconds again timing and rhythm are not important if the chest does not rise readjust the position of the to increase the chin up position press more firmly on the flange and blow more forcefully if the chest still does not rise remove the tube and check for foreign matter make sure that you'll is clear and reinserted if you notice the stomach bulging because of air blown into it press on it if vomiting occurs clear throat quickly when the unconscious victim begins shallow breathing blowing your breaths at the moment he inhaled and take your mouth off the resusci tube quickly when he exhaled so it's not to interfere with his natural breathing when he is breathing and you are transporting him elevate his shoulders so his head is killed it backwards and lead the resusci tube in place be prepared to blow into the mouthpiece if he should stop breathing or when the victim reacts by gagging or retching removed the airway to prevent vomiting keep the head tilted backward to make sure that the air passageway is open there are many cases where an unconscious person may still be breathing unconsciousness alone may kill by air passageway obstruction very frequently this type of asphyxia can be prevented just by tilting the head backward you must maintain the victim's head and jaw in this position until he regains consciousness if this is not effective insert the short end of the resusci to use the short end of the tube to prevent gagging for the jaw fight or the victim is partially conscious here are some important points to remember about drowning you must get air into the victims lungs without delay do not worry about water in the lungs often the drowning victim vomits water and food during resuscitation if this should happen in an adult or large child interrupt rescue breathing at once turn the victim's head to the side clean the mouth and throat swiftly and resume artificial respiration immediately if vomiting occurs in a small child and to rescuers of present one holds the child upside down while the other cleans the mouth and throat quickly remember any type of act causing unconsciousness may result in a 6-year a non breathing person will die in a very few minutes if air is not gotten into his lungs quickly practice the methods of exhaled air resuscitation you've just seen in the mouth of airway methods insert the short end for practice purposes in an emergency if the resusci tube airway is not immediately available do not waste valuable time looking for one dark direct mouth-to-mouth breathing at once every year 50