Facts about CPR

CPR doubles a person's chance of survival from cardiac arrest.

75% of all cardiac arrests happen in a person’s home.

32% of all cardiac arrest patients get CPR from a bystander.

A victim of cardiac arrest can only survive for 4 to 6 minutes before oxygen deprivation causes brain death.

The typical victim of cardiac arrest is a man in his early 60's and a woman in her late 60's with underlying heart disease.

Cardiac arrest occurs twice as frequently in men compared to women.

There has never been a case of HIV transmitted by mouth-to-mouth CPR.

The most common heart rhythm for cardiac arrest is ventricular fibrillation (VF).

VF is fatal unless an electric shock is given from a defibrillator.  CPR does not stop VF, it just aids in circulation until the VF is corrected.

CPR does not provide as much oxygen to vital organs like the heart and the brain as normal circulation does.  CPR does provide enough oxygen to keep these organs alive until the heart returns to a normal rhythm.

If CPR is started within 4 minutes of collapse and defibrillation is provided within 10 minutes, a person has a 40% chance of survival.


Reference

American Heart Association. (2011). CPR facts. Retrieved from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/CPRAndECC/WhatisCPR/CPRFactsandStats/CPR-Facts-and-Stats_UCM_302910_SubHomePage.jsp

Eisenberg, M. (2010). Learn CPR: You can do it!. Retrieved from http://depts.washington.edu/learncpr/index.html