Training yourself in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) could be lifesaving for someone else. New research shows that CPR performed on a bystander can significantly increase a person’s chances of surviving a heart attack.

CPR is valuable temporary intervention for cardiac arrest, that is, when someone’s heart stops beating. But the scientists behind this new study wanted to better measure how the timing of having a person at the scene provide CPR before trained medical help arrives might impact a person’s prognosis compared to CPR not at the scene at all. They found that bystanders can save people’s lives and protect brain health with CPR for up to ten minutes after cardiac arrest. Researchers say the results highlight the importance of encouraging ordinary people to perform CPR despite known risks.

Researchers analyzed data from the National Cardiac Arrest Registry to Improve Survival, or CARES, looking at nearly 200,000 documented cases of cardiac arrest that occurred outside the hospital between 2013 and 2022. CPR is not administered to any bystanders. But they found that returns diminished the longer it took for CPR to begin.

For example, a person who received CPR within the first two minutes of arrest was 81% more likely to survive than a person who was not given CPR, and was 95% more likely to not suffer serious brain damage. Even performing CPR for up to ten minutes was not pointless; yet these victims were 19% more likely to survive and 22% more likely to avoid brain damage than those who were not accompanied by CPR. The researchers’ findings will be presented this week at the American Medical Association’s annual Resuscitation Science Symposium.

“Our findings reinforce that every second counts when starting CPR at the scene, and even a few minutes of delay can make a big difference,” said Evan O’Keefe, a cardiovascular researcher at Saint Luke’s Mid-America Heart Institute and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. city, one expression From the American Heart Association.

CPR is not a risk-free intervention. Even if done correctly, the chest compressions used in CPR can cause serious complications, such as broken ribs or damage to internal organs. These risks increase even more in individuals. elderly and/or those with other chronic diseasesand these groups are also less likely Even when they receive artificial respiration in the hospital, they can survive a heart attack without experiencing major health problems. This suggests that CPR may not always be recommended for people whose health condition is already fragile.

However, studies to create Even elderly people have a better chance of long-term survival when CPR is administered by a bystander. And organizations like the American Heart Association continue to support bystander CPR, stating that the benefits clearly outweigh the risks. It is estimated that more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside the hospital each year in the United States, and approximately 9% of victims survive. According to the AHA, immediate CPR can double or triple a person’s chances of survival. However, at this time, bystander CPR achieved only about 35% to 40% of the time These cases are globally

Given their findings, the authors say CPR training should be made more widely available to the public, while bystanders should be more encouraged to perform CPR and other first aid in emergency situations.

“This suggests that we need to focus on teaching more people how to perform CPR and also highlight ways for people experiencing heart attacks to get help faster,” O’Keefe said. “This could include better public access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and advanced dispatch systems, as well as more widespread CPR training programs.”