AHA clarifies message on mouth-to-mouth component of CPR

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American Heart Association alert:
AHA clarifies message on mouth-to-mouth component of CPR

DALLAS, Sept. 17 -- Bystanders who witness a cardiac arrest should dial 9-1-1 and then perform mouth-to-mouth ventilations and chest compressions -- the two major components of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) -- according to the American Heart Association in a statement on CPR published in its journal Circulation (Sept. 16).

"Unfortunately there have been stories in the media that have incorrectly stated that the American Heart Association is withdrawing support for using the mouth-to-mouth component of CPR," says Lance Becker, M.D., chair of the task force that wrote the report, which reviews the role of rescue breathing in CPR.

The committee encourages research to look at ways to simplify CPR so that more people will do it. One barrier to CPR is that ventilation as is now performed in bystander CPR requires mouth-to-mouth contact. The AHA task force reviewed some reports that this aspect of CPR is a barrier to more people performing this proven life-saving treatment.

"We know that CPR saves lives, and we are looking at anything that may help simplify it so more people will do it," says Becker. "But we are not saying, 'don't do it.'"

The report calls for studies to determine whether those who inadvertently receive chest compression without mouth-to-mouth ventilation do as well as those who do receive standard CPR.

Current AHA guidelines already state that mouth-to-mouth ventilation should be the initial intervention citizens use for cardiac arrest. If a person is unwilling to perform mouth-to-mouth, he or she should rapidly attempt resuscitation through chest compressions alone.

Richard O. Cummins, M.D., chair of the AHA's Emergency Cardiac Care Committee says, "More than 80 percent of the time mouth-to-mouth ventilation is performed by one friend or a loved one to another. Don't worry about disease -- the risk is negligible -- worry about saving the person's life. And the best way to save their life is good mouth-to-mouth ventilations and good chest compressions."

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