...a text description of this CPR method. I think I already know it, but not sure. (Recently took a CPR course.) (Basically, forget about mouth-to-mouth; concentrate entirely on the chest compressions.) (--after you've determined that there is nothing blocking the throat).
One thing that impressed me in the CPR class (new to me) is that chest compressions are NOT aimed primarily at re-starting the heart but rather at keeping the BRAIN alive with oxygen until expert help arrives.
Apparently, some people abandon the chest compressions if they can't get a pulse. Since chest compressions are hard to do and exhausting, it's tempting to give it up, if it doesn't seem to be working. But the point is to save the brain from permanent damage by getting whatever oxygen the patient has TO the brain in those critical minutes before first responders arrive.
If there is a defib machine available, of course, use it, but these new defib machines (which guide you through the process) are not available everywhere (might be in big public spaces--shopping malls, airports, etc.) and you may well have no machine around, in dealing with this kind of situation. The point is NOT to revive the person by your efforts; the point is to save the brain!
Keep up the chest compressions--and, if possible, get others to aid you in doing this--until first responders arrive--no matter what you think of the status of the patient. (Within reason, of course. Right now, I can't remember the number of minutes to brain damage. Somebody help me here. It's under ten minutes, as I recall. But, if I could, I would keep up chest compressions as long as humanly possible until experts arrived.)
One other thing that was new to me: Don't just yell "Call 9/11!" to a crowd of people. Look at a specific person and tell that person to call 9/11. And tell another specific person to go look for a defib machine on the wall (if you are in a place likely to have one). People in a crowd may assume (and apparently often assume) that someone else is calling 9/11. Make eye contact; fix responsibility.
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To any medical or emergency professionals in this thread: Please feel free to correct anything I've said that is wrong. I am NOT an expert. And, one question I have, is: If you use a defib machine and that does not re-start the heart, do you keep doing compressions anyway? I would think so, but I'm not sure. And what is your "rule of thumb" for how long to keep up the chest compressions (for instance, if first responders are delayed--or, say in a natural disaster, can't reach you?).
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