Workshop on Basic Life Saving Procedures

(Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation)

Under the aegis of Study Circle, a Health Awareness Programme on was conducted on
“Basic Life Saving (BLS) Procedures" on March 19, 2015. Basic Life Saving procedures
are a coordinated, comprehensive set of steps which helps to give a level of care to victims of
life threatening emergencies or injury and to save their lives until they can be given full medical
support.

The programme was conducted by Dr. Sourish Ray, MBBS (Cal) PGDHHM, DEM (RCGP-
UK) and Dr. Purusatyam Chakraborty, MBBS, DEM (RCGH- UK) from Kothari Medical
Centre along with their team. The Programme was followed by an interactive session. Dr Roy
and Dr Chakraborty demonstrated some Basic Life Saving (BLS) procedures that could help
prevent death due to cardiac arrest while waiting for medical professionals to arrive on the
scene. They informed the gathering that in case of cardiac arrest, anybody, even those without
formal medical training, could administer a few simple steps to help the patient to sustain, till
paramedics arrive with an ambulance and take the patient to the hospital. The systems
involved in cardiac arrest are circulation, airway and breathing (CAB).

To help a patient it is important to recognize the symptoms early and call for help. Early
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can help buy time till advanced cardiovascular life
support (ACLS) uses defibrillation and other techniques to successfully revive a patient from a
heart attack.

The seven steps of Basic Life Saving procedures discussed during the presentation along with
physical demonstration are as given below:

1. Approach to safety- This step involves bringing the patient to safety to administer
CPR.
2. Check response- One needs to check for responsiveness of the patient. If s/he does
not respond to shaking, then CPR will have to be given.
3. Shout for help- It is very enervating for one person to do CPR on a patient, therefore, it
is advisable to call other people to help and take turns in administering CPR. Also, it is
very important to call for ambulance or emergency response numbers so that the
patient can be taken to a hospital for ACLS immediately.
4. Check for pulse- It is important to check for pulse on the neck, i.e. the carotid artery,
using 3 fingers to locate a pulse within 5-10 seconds.
5. 30 chest compressions- A palm has to be placed in the middle of the sternum with
fingers pointing outwards. The other palm needs to be kept on the palm already on the
chest. With both hands, shoulders at 90° to the body and straight elbows, pressure has
to be applied directly on the chest bone 30 times with minimum interruptions so that the
heart can receive the pumping action. The rate should be at a 100/min or almost 5 times
in 3 seconds, achieving a depth of 3-4 cm. The chest has to be allowed to recoil
completely.
In case of neonatal, i.e. infants below 1 month, 2 fingers can be used directly on the
chest bone of the baby, instead of 2 palms. And for children below 8 years, 2 thumbs
should be used for the compressions.
6. Open airway and clear airway-
One has to tilt the head of the
patient backwards and lift the
chin upwards to open the airway.
With a finger one needs to check
for presence of food particles
inside mouth and remove
anything that may be inside.
7. Mouth to Mouth breathing- Once the head is tilted and chin lifted the nostrils of the
patient has to be pinched to block them, and two powerful breaths of air need to be
transferred to the patient mouth to mouth. In case of doubt, sterile gauze can be placed
on the victim’s mouth to prevent communicable disease.
Five cycles consisting of 30 chest compressions and 2 rescue breaths have to be given.
After 2 minutes, a pulse check for 3-5 seconds needs to be conducted. Another person
 may take over to conduct the CPR procedure when the first person gets tired. CPR has
to be applied till the patient revives or medical help arrives.
The short workshop was fascinating and many volunteers took to the stage to practice
on the dummy brought to the office for demonstration. There was an enthusiastic
question and answer round and people recounted the times that these procedures may
have helped. Everyone went back feeling enlightened and energized.

Photographs bear testimony to the whole hearted participation of the audience in the demonstration exercises