The staff of Mind's Eye Graphics recently received important, life-saving training.  Adams County Paramedic Chad Voglewede and Advanced EMT Billy White provided hands-on training for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and an Automated External Defibrillator (AED.)  The CPR and AED courses were designed to give staff the confidence and skills needed to respond to and discern the safety of emergency situations, prevent further injuries, alarm others of the crisis, dictate necessary responsibilities once help arrives, perform CPR until an AED arrives, and operate the AED as needed for emergency medical aid until advanced medical personnel can take over. 

CPR is an emergency medical procedure for a victim of cardiac or respiratory arrest.  The main purpose of CPR is to maintain a flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and the heart, extending the brief window of opportunity for a successful resuscitation without permanent brain damage. Chad and Billy informed the staff of the new policy endorsed by the American Heart Association; the effectiveness of chest compressions alone--without artificial respiration--for adult victims who collapse suddenly in cardiac arrest.  The former ratio for breaths to chest compressions was 1 breath for every 15 compressions has now been doubled to 2 breaths for every 30 compressions.  As procedures for CPR vary slightly from infants to youths to adults, our staff received instruction on for all three areas. 

CPR is effective for maintaining blood flow, but is unlikely restart the heart. A defibrillator is the only known device/technique that stops the chaotic electrical heart activity and allows the heart to re-pace itself to a normal rhythm.  Mind's Eye purchased a ZOLL AED Plus for their building.  It incorporates a sequence of visual and voice prompts to help rescuers follow established protocols for use of AEDs.  Our staff learned how to properly apply the AED's pads to a victim of cardiac arrest, perform CPR, prevent any unnecessary injuries, and apply a shock to restart the victim's heart if required.

The staff also gained knowledge of the proper execution of abdominal thrusts, aka the Heimlich maneuver, if a victim is identified as choking.  Choking can result in asphyxiation, which leads to hypoxia and is potentially fatal.  Symptoms of a choking victim include the inability to speak or cry out, their face turns blue from lack of oxygen, if they desperately grab at their throat, have a weak cough, or have labored breathing producing a high-pitched noise.  If it is apparent that a person is choking, the rescuer should stand behind the victim and use their hands to exert pressure on the bottom of the diaphragm, compressing the lungs, and exerting pressure on any object lodged in the trachea, hopefully expelling it.  If the object does not expel and the victim becomes unconscious, the rescuer should switch the emphasis to performing CPR.  These actions are often enough to dislodge the item sufficiently for air to pass it, allowing gaseous exchange in the lungs. 

Hopefully these procedures will never need to be employed here at Mind’s Eye, but we give our special thanks to Chad Voglewede and Billy White for instructing us on these valuable techniques.