There is a thin line between life and death.The next person sitting close to you might slide into a subconscious state in which you ought to act fast, or the person stands a chance of losing his  life in a matter of seconds.Have you been in a situation that you wished you could have done something to salvage somebody’s life before medical help comes by?

<center><sub>![doctor faint.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXrhRfEePPWYAh7PNR15fg44XDYrc4PofmuLr5MiJVGy9/doctor%20faint.png)[What if you had a basic knowledge of what to do in that state?](https://pixabay.com/en/nurse-nursing-pain-treatment-drugs-815050/)</sub></center>

_Let me tell you how you can be of help next time._


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The human body uses oxygen for a number of cellular activities to maintain life including the production of energy. Carbon dioxide is the end product of aerobic metabolism which is eliminated from the body through the lungs. It is obvious that oxygen is necessary to maintain a level of consciousness.

Cardiac arrest is the sudden cessation of effective circulation in a person not expected to die at that moment. Cardiac arrest may result from an electrical disturbance in the heart. A possibility could be an airway obstruction e.g. inhaled foreign body, myocardial infarction, excessive blood loss, electrocution and even poison ingestion.   
There are the signs to look out for.
* Unconsciousness (  A state of emergency in which the body is unable to meet the normal physiological standards due to a compromise).

* The absence of pulses(e.g. radial pulse, carotid pulse)

* Apnoea( an absence of respiration).

* Dilated unreactive and fixed pupils.    

More than 100,000 unconscious cases are seen yearly in the world, The average person may not have an idea of how to help and when these cases finally go to the hospital, they contribute to the mortality figures.Unconsciousness is a close relation of death, an unconscious person is at immediate risk dying from upper airway obstruction by the tongue or aspiration due to loss of protective airway reflexes. An immediate response to an unconscious person is aimed at saving a life.

Basic life support (BLS) is the minimum standard of care to be rendered to salvage the victim from dying. As the name implies, it is a basic way to lend a hand to a dying friend. 

# It should be a must know for the entire community and not just the health professionals.



BASIC LIFE SUPPORT requires the use of two hands and a willing heart to maintain the airway and support the breathing and circulation until further help comes or the person is transferred to a health facility.

# Important facts to note.
* Early recognition of an unconscious state and calling for help may prevent a cardiac arrest.

* Immediate CPR can double or even triple the survival chances and prevent a cardiac arrest


# Before embarking on a cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, these are the things to do after calling for help nearby.

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# A -ASSESSMENT
This is a crucial phase, in basic life support. The rescuer must first access the safety of the scene in case there is need to move the victim to a safer place. 

* Next would be a quick assessment of any injuries or damage to the spine- this will determine the way of moving the victim and opening of the airway.

* The rescuer taps/ shake the victim gently and shouts “are you alright” to access responsiveness

* If the victim is unresponsive, lay the victim flat on the floor with head and the whole body facing the sky, and open the airway by a manoeuvre that will lift the tongue from the posterior pharynx (throat)- this is because the tongue usually falls backwards occluding the pharynx(throat) in an unconscious victim.

# The basic maneuvers to know are:

# HEAD TILT/ CHIN LIFT.
<center><sub>![chin lift.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPpsd8MU4UB6kBecvpmjmk166n2nybVXbxB4EVKHJYC4c/chin%20lift.jpg)[ wikimedia commons image by PrPom under CC-by SA 4.0 Fr](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Unconsciousness#/media/File:Z%C3%A1klon_hlavy_-_zpr%C5%AFchodn%C4%9Bn%C3%AD_d%C3%BDchac%C3%ADch_cest_01.jpg)</sub></center>

* Gently place one hand on the victim's forehead, and push the head back slowly tilting the head backward.

* Next, place the index and middle finger of the other hand under the chin and pull the chin forward and support it.

# JAW THRUST.
<center><sub>![head tilt.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTR1M3MgwM8zv2LqLHFagdhwEw6H13YpUER4XzFrEVQcx/head%20tilt.jpg)[wikimedia commons image by Rama undr CC-by SA 2.0 Fr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/CPR_training-05.jpg)</sub></center>

* This is the safest approach to a victim with a suspected neck injury if you made an assessment of that

* Place both hands on each side of the victims head and grasp the lower jaw (mandible). Gently lift the jaw with both hands.

_N/B: This technique can be performed without lifting the neck._

# B-BREATHING.

<center><sub>![small listen cpr.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSMvBY3i8SrwwgmhU1RqQwTfxBP5WsN978ASDwfnoJiuw/small%20listen%20cpr.jpg)[wikimedia commons image by Rama undr CC-by SA 2.0 Fr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/CPR_training-01.jpg/640px-CPR_training-01.jpg)</sub></center>

* Bend down slowly, placing your ears near the victim's mouth and nose while maintaining an open airway and assess for breathing (respiration).

* Look at the chest if it’s rising and falling, if there is inadequate breathing (gasps) then you would need to help the victim breath.

# MOUTH TO MOUTH BREATHING.
While still maintaining the victims head as described earlier, pinch the victim’s nose to prevent further air from escaping, take a deep breath, make a seal with your mouth over the victim’s mouth and exhale slowly into the victim’s mouth while observing the chest to see the chest movements.

# MOUTH TO NOSE BREATHING.
If there is a difficulty with the mouth assesses probably because of an injury, the nose is another option. 

* To do this, you tilt the victims head back with one hand and use the other hand to lift the jaw (mandible) to close the mouth to prevent air escape.

* Next, take a deep breath, and seal your mouth over the person’s nose and exhale slowly into it.

# MOUTH TO BARRIER DEVICE BREATHING.
This technique is encouraged when carrying out a resuscitation outside the home, or when you are afraid of transmission of an infectious disease. Face shields and mask can be used or you can proceed to do chest compressions that you would learn about soon.

# C -CIRCULATION
This is the final step. This might be difficult to assess as a layman, but if you can look closely, listen and feel the absences or presence of the pulsation in the neck (carotid pulse); this may give you a pointer to start chest compression

<center><sub>![compress chest.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPBM8BPm1o6xzyAXqSQBMR9waTp4t1Xdmr8M3p64kd76A/compress%20chest.jpg)[wikimedia commons image by Rama undr CC-by SA 2.0 Fr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/CPR_training-02.jpg/640px-CPR_training-02.jpg)</sub></center>

* CHEST COMPRESSION TECHNIQUE-Place the heel of one of your hand on the lower chest (sternum) and the other hand on top of the first in such a way that the hands are parallel to each other.

* Try to position your shoulders above your parallel hands and depress the chest by about 4-5cm. release the pressure after each compression but do not take your hands off the chest in order not to lose your initial position.

The current guideline on resuscitation recommends 30 external chest compressions to 2 rescue breaths irrespective of the rescuer. The basic life support procedure should continue until the ambulance arrives to convey the victim to a better-equipped facility.

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# Here is a quick summary of the tips.

_Unresponsive?  Shout for help!!!, open airway. Not breathing normally? Do 30 compressions with 2 rescue breaths_


for further reading, here are some useful references.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopulmonary_resuscitation

https://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/how-to-save-a-life/how-to-do-cpr

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/first-aid/cpr/


if you have any questions, please drop a message in the comment section and i will answer it
@antigenx