Ever wonder why CPR training requires constant re-certification? Why it keeps changing? Let’s explore some of the reasons why.
Standards Keep Changing
Every few years the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) releases the latest studies on CPR and provides updates to medical world on what works and what doesn’t work in terms of CPR. This is one of the reasons why the standards change. We need to update CPR so we can improve the results. So expects CPR standards to change every few years based on recommendations from ILCOR.
Whatever Happened to Mouth to Mouth?
In the 1980’s it was normal to practice mouth to mouth resuscitation with compressions. Not so much anymore! Not just because of COVID but because of a lot of obvious reasons such as disease prevention, harassment and the odds of you not wanting to lock lips with a stranger. CPR used to include techniques such as rolling someone over onto his or her back and pushing the back as well as techniques such as pumping the legs. Obstructed airways for unconscious people use to involve straddling the person and thrusting into the stomach. All of this has given way to a much simpler system that is much easier to remember.
Keep it Simple Stupid (KISS)
The saying “keep it simple stupid” is fairly popular in CPR training. The reasons the above mentioned techniques are no longer used is because they were too hard to remember. In the heat of the moment nobody remember what to do. This is the reason why CPR standards have switched to simple techniques of just doing compressions or doing the 30:2 ratio.
CPR techniques are always going to be susceptible to change. Hopefully they keep moving towards easier and more straightforward techniques with less chance of disease transmission.