CPR or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, cpr fpr pets

another suppose-to-be old post on how to cpr you pets:

The MOST IMPORTANT First Aid Skill, I have said it before and I'll say it again.

CPR

You MUST know it.
It saves lives.

Thousands of people are ALIVE because of CPR.
Someone took a CPR course and saved a life.

Thousands of pets have died in part because
NOBODY knew HOW to perform Pet CPR.

One of our subscribers, Carol G has a little
Poodle called KoKo who survived with CPR.

She was choking on a round piece of a stick.

She dropped - STOPPED breathing.

Fortunately - Carol knew and had practiced CPR.

She was able to dislodge the stick, and
perform rescue breaths.


Here is WHAT you need to know....
------------ --------- --------- --------- ---

Pet CPR

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is the most important
First Aid technique that every pet owner should
be comfortable with. Chances are that you will
never have to use it, but it will save your pet's
life if a ball is lodged in his airway.

There are some very basic steps:

1. Assess responsiveness
2. Establish a patent airway
3. Perform rescue breathing
4. Cardiac massage - establishing circulation


STEP 1

RESPONSIVENESS

The first step is making sure that your pet is truly
unresponsive.

1. CHECK his breathing by placing your hand in front
of his mouth and nose.


2. CHECK for his heartbeat by placing your ear against
the left side of his chest. This is the area where his
left elbow touches his chest, immediately behind his
left armpit.


STEP 2

AIRWAY

The second step in CPR is obtaining a patent airway.

1. PULL the tongue out of your pet's mouth, but be
careful to not get bitten.

2. STRAIGHTEN the neck by moving the head to be in
line with the neck.

DO NOT HYPEREXTEND IN CASES OF NECK TRAUMA.

3. PERFORM two rescue breaths, by closing the mouth
and performing mouth to nose ventilations. IF they
continue, then proceed to STEP 3, BREATHING.

If there are no breaths, then look into the mouth.

4. VISIBLY inspect the mouth and look down the throat
for a foreign body. If you see something, reach into
the airway and remove it.

5. IF the airway is still not open, attempt HEIMLICH
(shown in following steps).

6. TURN your pet upside down, with back against your
chest.

7. WITH both arms, give sharp thrusts to the abdomen.

8. AFTER 5 thrusts, stop and check to see if the object
is visible in the airway. If so remove it and give 2
mouth-to-nose rescue breaths. If the breaths do not go
in, repeat HEIMLICH.


STEP 3

BREATHING

After achieving a patent airway, perform RESCUE BREATHING.

1. CLOSE your pet's mouth and breathe directly into his
nose until his chest expands. If the chest doesn't expand
then go back to STEP 2 - AIRWAY.

2. VENTILATE at 15 breaths per minute. One BREATH every
4 seconds.

3. PROCEED to STEP 4 - CIRCULATION


STEP 4

CIRCULATION

1. ENSURE there are no major points of bleeding. Control
as necessary.

2. GENTLY lay your pet on his right side.

3. LOCATE the heart, which is found on the lower half of
the chest on the left side, behind the elbow of the front
left leg. Place one hand below the heart to support the chest;
place the other hand over the heart.

4. COMPRESS the chest 15 times followed by 2 rescue breaths.
3 compressions every 2 seconds. Compress the chest 1/2 inch
for small pets and 1 1/2 inches for large pets.

5. EVERY 15 times follow up with 2 rescue breaths.

Continue heart massage compressions and the rescue breathing
until you hear a heart beat and feel regular breathing. Once
your pet is breathing and his heart is beating, CALL your
veterinarian immediately!


Best Wishes,

Dr Andrew Jones, DVM