Facts

• The lungs function is to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen.
• Room air is 21 percent oxygen, exhaled air is 16 percent oxygen.  All body organs and cells need oxygen to live.
• During CPR, exhalation is due to normal relaxation of the chest.
• The heart is the size of your fiist with two separate halves (left and right heart).  The right heart receives blood from the body and pumps it through the lungs back to the left heart.  The left heart pumps fresh oxygenated blood to all body parts.
• The heart beats 60-100 times a minute, 100,000 times a day and pumps five quarts of blood a minute or 1,800 gallons a day.  Ninety percent of the time, CPR will be done on a family member or close friend.
• People do vomit and ribs do crack sometimes during CPR.
• The victim should lie on a flat, hard surface.
• If you are alone, do CPR for two minutes, then call 9-1-1. 

Increased Survival with CPR and AED's

Studies have repeatedly shown the importance of immediate bystander CPR plus defibrillation with 3-5 minutes of collapse to improve survival from sudden VF cardiac arrest.

In cities such as Seattle, Washington, where CPR training is wide spread and EMS response time to defibrillation is short, the survival rate for witnessed VF cardiac arrest is about 30 percent.

Lay rescuer AED programs consisting of police in Rochester, Minnesota, security guards in Chicago's  O'hare and Midway airports, and security guards in Las Vegas casinos have achieved 50-74 percent survival for adults with sudden, witnessed VF cardiac arrest. These programs are thought to be successful because rescuers are trained to respond efficiently and all survivors receive immediate bystander CPR plus defibrillation within 3-5 minutes.