New guidelines for CPR emphasize pushing “hard and fast”
New CPR guidelines released Monday urge potential rescuers to give compression-only CPR and forget about mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The guidelines emphasize to “push hard and fast” on the chest between the nipples at a rate of 100 compressions per minute. The compressions need to be forceful and deep. For an adult, compressions should go at least five cm into the chest, and for children, at least 4. The new guidelines come after a body of research concluded that critical seconds are lost when people attempt mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and that doing compression right away increases the likelihood of a person surviving cardiac arrest.