11 Mar New CPR guidelines…

New CPR guidelines will boost public’s confidence

The new changes to first aid and CPR guidelines being implemented by a number of Canadian agencies are meant not just to save more lives, but to make the public more confident to intervene in a medical emergency, says a training specialist with St. John Ambulance in B.C. and the Yukon.

Training development manager Keith Tyler said it is “hugely concerning” that a recent online survey found that only 50 per cent of Canadians feel confident responding to a heart attack or other cardiac emergency

“We know that the first one to four minutes of a cardiac arrest are the most vital and the best time in order to intervene on that patient’s’ behalf,” Tyler told B.C. Almanac host Michelle Eliot.

“We’ve got fantastic paramedics. We’ve got fantastic firefighters. We’ve got fantastic first responders, but they cannot get there in that time, so we — as the rest of the public in B.C. — need to step in and we need to take some action in that time.”

Source: CBC News