Álvarez de la Cadena-Sillas, Jorge¹

Language: English
References: 9
Page: 4-5
PDF size: 95.21 Kb.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world. Among them, the presence of sudden cardiac death (SCD) stands out.¹ The prompt activation of the emergency medical service (EMS), the early initiation of CPR by witnesses, and the use of the AED improve the prognosis of survival and complications of the victim.² In this context, international CPR recommendations increasingly insist on teaching these maneuvers to first responders and witnesses, especially in the context of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA),³ which is where witnesses are the ones who can initiate the rescue maneuver's attention to victims.⁴ In Mexico, there is no free CPR training program for the open population either at the government level or by Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs). There are only separate efforts, and most of them are not free and are taught mainly to people who request them and at some cost. Furthermore, we think that the fact that SCDs are mostly produced as OHCA and the evidence that the performance of early detection by witnesses leads to greater survival. It should be the reason for providing education that reaches the majority of the population,⁵ as I said before, for free. In this sense, we think that the recommendations made by ANCAM in its initial program to save a life with just your hands should be a turning point to extend CPR education to the Mexican population by an NGO, but taking advantage above all of the learning capacity of the school population⁶ this should also be a government program at the national level in primary schools. Multiple studies show that teaching CPR and CPR maneuvers in schoolchildren is accompanied by a^7-9 reduction in morbidity and mortality in patients with OHCA. We think that this type of writing should raise awareness among political authorities to consider the importance of teaching this type of maneuver in training not only at the level of the school population but also at the secondary level where it is shown that the population is more receptive and potentially suitable for the application of CPR maneuvers and make it mandatory in high-risk populations such as those seeking to obtain a driving license, and places with a high concentration of people such as airports, stadiums, shopping centers, airports, gyms, sports centers, etc. Finally, the idea is to reduce a real health problem that causes great deterioration in the health of Mexicans, their families, and their workplaces, and that also translates into economic problems for the country since most of the victims are people of productive age.

Let us help raise awareness in the general population and especially in our governments and make it easier for the teaching of CPR to reach the majority of Mexicans finally.

REFERENCES

1. Atwood C, Eisenberg MS, Herlitz J, Rea TD. Incidence of EMS-treated out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Europe. Resuscitation. 2005; 67 (1): 75-80.

2. Meaney PA, Bobrow BJ, Mancini ME, Christenson J, de Caen AR, Bhanji F et al. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality: improving cardiac resuscitation outcomes both inside and outside the hospital. A consensus statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2013; 128 (4): 417-435.

3. Greif R, Lockey AS, Conaghan P, Lippert A, De Vries W, Monsieurs KG. European resuscitation council guidelines for resuscitation 2015. Section 10. Education and implementation of resuscitation. Resuscitation. 2015; 95: 288-301.

4. Vaillancourt C, Verma A, Trickett J, Crete D, Beaudoin T, Nesbitt L, Wells GA, Stiell IG. Evaluating the effectiveness of dispatch-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructions. Acad Emerg Med. 2007; 14 (10): 877-883.

5. Gallagher EJ, Lombardi G, Gennis P. Effectiveness of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and survival following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. JAMA. 1995; 274 (24): 1922-1925.

6. Böttiger BW, Van Aken H. Kids save lives. Training school children in cardiopulmonary resuscitation worldwide is now endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Resuscitation. 2015; 94: A5-A7.

7. Iserbyt P, Theys L, Ward P, Charlier N. The effect of a specialized content knowledge workshop on teaching and learning basic life support in elementary school: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Resuscitation. 2017; 112: 17-21.

8. Mpotos N, Isebyrt P. Children saving lives: training towards CPR excellence levels in chest compression based on age and physical characteristics. Resuscitation. 2017; 121: 135-140.

9. López UMC, Freire TM, Rasines SR, Iglesias GA. RCP na aula: programa de enseñanza de la reanimación cardiopulmonar básica para estudiantes de secundaria. Emergencias. 2012; 24: 76.

AFFILIATIONS

¹ Cardiólogo, práctica privada San Miguel de Allende y del Instituto de Corazón de Querétaro Querétaro, México.

CORRESPONDENCE

Jorge Álvarez de la Cadena-Sillas. E-mail: jalvarezdelacadena@gmail.com