10.3 CPR Awareness (30:2)

10.3 CPR Awareness (30:2)

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a set of actions that temporarily circulate blood and oxygen when a person’s heart and breathing have effectively stopped. For ISPON HSE Level 1, you need awareness of adult CPR numbers and priorities used in common international basic life-support teaching (American Heart Association / European Resuscitation Council style guidance widely taught in workplace courses). You do not become a licensed CPR provider by reading this section alone.

Hard rule for this guide and for ethical practice: Formal CPR skill requires hands-on training, practice on manikins, and often a certificate with an expiry date. Use this material to pass the theory exam and to know when to start help—then complete a practical course through your employer or an accredited provider.

When CPR Is Considered

CPR is indicated (in standard basic teaching) when an adult is:

• Unresponsive, and
• Not breathing normally (including only occasional gasps),

and it is safe for you to approach.

If the casualty is responsive or breathing normally, CPR is not the treatment—support ABCs, recovery position if unresponsive but breathing, control bleeding, and call help.

Adult CPR Ratio: 30:2

The compression-to-ventilation ratio commonly taught for a single rescuer adult CPR is:

Memory: 30 hard compressions, then 2 breaths, over and over until help takes over, an AED directs a pause, the casualty shows clear signs of life, or you are too exhausted and a trained replacement continues.

Compression Quality — Rate and Depth

Quality compressions matter more than perfect-looking posture photos.

Practical compression cues (awareness)

• Interlock or overlap hands as trained; shoulders over hands; arms straight.
• Push hard and fast in the centre of the chest.
• Count aloud or use a trained metronome/app if available in a course setting.
• Switch rescuers about every two minutes if two trained people are present, because quality falls with fatigue.

Do not practice full-force compressions on a healthy living person “for fun”—use manikins only.

Rescue Breaths (If Trained)

If you are trained and willing:

1. After 30 compressions, open the airway (head-tilt chin-lift as appropriate).
2. Pinch the nose, seal your mouth over the casualty’s mouth (or use a face shield/mask from the kit).
3. Give two breaths, each about 1 second, just enough to see the chest rise.
4. Avoid excessive force that blows air into the stomach.
5. Return immediately to compressions.

If breaths do not make the chest rise, reposition the airway and try again; do not waste long periods without compressions.

Hands-Only CPR (Compression-Only)

If you are untrained in rescue breaths, unwilling to give mouth-to-mouth, or have no barrier device and prefer not to:

Give continuous chest compressions at 100–120/min, depth about 5–6 cm, until help or an AED arrives.

Hands-only CPR is widely promoted for untrained bystanders on adult sudden collapse because circulation is the priority and compressions alone are far better than doing nothing. When the exam asks about the standard trained ratio, answer 30:2; when it asks what an untrained person should do, hands-only is often the correct emphasis.

AED Awareness (Automated External Defibrillator)

An AED is a portable device that analyses heart rhythm and can deliver a shock if the rhythm is “shockable” (for example ventricular fibrillation). Modern AEDs give voice prompts so trained and untrained users can follow steps.

High-level AED steps (awareness)

1. Turn the AED on.
2. Attach pads to the bare chest as shown on the pad diagrams (one upper right, one lower left is common adult placement—follow the pictures on your pads).
3. Ensure nobody is touching the casualty while the AED analyses.
4. If a shock is advised, clear the casualty (“stand clear”) and deliver the shock as prompted.
5. Immediately resume CPR starting with compressions when the AED tells you to.
6. Continue to follow prompts until advanced help takes over.

Many Nigerian sites do not yet have AEDs everywhere. Know whether yours does (clinic, admin block, high-risk facility) during induction. Absence of an AED does not cancel the need for CPR and emergency activation.

Chain of Survival (Awareness Link)

CPR sits inside a wider “chain” often taught as:

1. Early recognition and call for help
2. Early CPR
3. Early defibrillation (AED)
4. Early advanced care
5. Post-resuscitation care (hospital)

Your workplace role is usually links 1–3: notice collapse, call, compress, apply AED if present.

Safety and Limits During CPR

Nigerian Workplace Context

• Remote locations: start CPR and activate site medevac/clinic protocol immediately—do not wait hoping the casualty “sleeps it off.”
• Heat and outdoor work: collapse may be heat-related or cardiac—primary survey still decides CPR vs other care.
• Generators and workshops: ensure power isolation if electrocution is suspected before touching; then CPR if indicated after the scene is safe.
• After any CPR event: support the team, secure the scene for investigation, restock kit, and offer psychological support pathways per company policy.

Exam Focus vs Practical Certification

If a question asks whether Level 1 theory alone qualifies you as a certified CPR provider, the answer is no—it is awareness for safer emergency response and exam knowledge.

Common Exam Traps

Exam Focus

Memorise 30:2, 100–120/min, 5–6 cm, hands-only for the untrained, AED early + follow prompts, and the disclaimer that this is awareness. Scenario stems often test whether you start CPR for unresponsive + abnormal breathing and whether you fetch help/AED without delay.