Page 78 - OHS, June 2020

DEFIBRILLATORS & CPR
Bystanders make a critical difference in assisting cardiac arrest victims before emergency responders can get to the scene.
use an AED in a safe, timely and effective manner. The course is designed for those with little or no medical training who want to be prepared for an emergency in any setting.
The course covers the basics such as first aid as well as medi- cal, injury and environmental emergencies. But it also delves into preventing illness and injury, opioid-associated life-threatening emergencies, Child CPR AED and Infant CPR in addition to Adult CPR and AED use.
You’ll just need to decide what type of training works best for your team. You could go with a blended learning approach, such as AHA’s Blended Learning Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED Online class, which combines online instruction with a hands-on skills session.
Or you could opt for a Classroom Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED class, which is an instructor-led, hands-on class format in either a training center or your place of business. Both video- based, instructor-led courses teach students critical skills needed to respond to and manage an emergency until medical services ar- rive. The practice-while-watching technique allows instructors to observe the students, provide constructive feedback and guide the
students’ learning of skills.
AHA also offers a CPR First Aid Anywhere Training Kit, a vid-
eo-based kit that can be easily facilitated by anyone to train hun- dreds of individuals.
Know that in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, AHA has issued optional instructional changes to its training network for its Heartsaver courses.
In the Age of COVID-19: Hands-Only CPR
Hands-Only CPR has been shown to be as effective as conventional CPR for cardiac arrest at home, at work or in public, according to the AHA.
But in the age of COVID-19, rescuers are unlikely to have ac- cess to adequate personal protective equipment. Therefore, rescu- ers are at increased risk of exposure to COVID-19 during CPR, compared to healthcare providers with adequate personal protec- tive equipment.
The AHA has issued interim guidance on how lay rescuers should perform Hands-Only CPR, if they are willing and able, after recognizing an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in an adult, es- pecially if they are household members who have been exposed to the victim at home. AHA recommends a face mask or cloth covering the mouth and nose of the rescuer and/or victim may reduce the risk of transmission to a non-household bystander, such as a colleague at work.
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