A B C

Salam
Hello

Guys, do you know the acronym for A B C?
Hint: Something important.

No, it's not ABCDEFGHIJKLMN...Z. I know it's important and need to be mastered before you can qualified to enter primary school. But can you think other than that?

Hint: Something to do during emergency condition.

No! It's not Air Batu Campur. -_-

Haha' thanks for answering my lame question.

Actually, today, my post is about Basic Life Support! Since we are going to learn about triage tomorrow and already got a lecture about Prolong Life Support, and Advanced Life Support for our last block, so better I rewind you guys a bit about it.

ABC stands for:

A - airway - the protection and maintenance of a clear passageway for gases (principally oxygen and carbon dioxide) to pass between the lungs and the outside of the body
B - breathing - inflation and deflation of the lungs (respiration) via the airway
C - circulation - providing an adequate blood supply to the body, especially critical organs, so as to deliver oxygen to all cells and remove carbon dioxide, via the perfusion of blood throughout the body

Adult BLS sequence


1. Ensure that the scene is safe.

2. Assess the victim's level of consciousness by asking loudly "are you okay?" and by checking for the victim's responsiveness to pain.

3. Call for help

4. If the victim has no suspected cervical spine trauma, open the airway using the head-tilt/chin-lift maneuver; if the victim has suspected trauma, the airway should be opened with the jaw-thrust technique. If the jaw-thrust is ineffective at opening/maintaining the airway, a very careful head-tilt/chin-lift should be performed.

5. Assess the airway for foreign object obstructions, and if any are visible, remove them using the finger-sweep technique. Blind finger-sweeps should not be performed, as they may push foreign objects deeper into the airway.

6. Look, listen, and feel for breathing for at least 5 seconds and no more than 15 seconds.

7. If the patient is breathing normally, then the patient should be placed in the recovery position and monitored and transported; do not continue the BLS sequence.

8. If patient is not breathing normally, and the arrest was witnessed immediately before assessment, then immediate defibrillation is the treatment of choice.

9. Attempt to administer two artificial ventilations using the mouth-to-mouth technique, the mouth-to-mask technique, or a bag-valve-mask. Verify that the chest rises and falls; if it does not, reposition the airway using the appropriate technique and try again. If ventilation is still unsuccessful, and the victim is unconscious, it is possible that they have a foreign body in their airway. Begin chest compressions, stopping every 30 compressions, re-checking the airway for obstructions, removing any found, and re-attempting ventilation.

10. If the ventilations are successful, assess for the presence of a pulse at the carotid artery. If a pulse is detected, then the patient should continue to receive artificial ventilations at an appropriate rate and transported immediately. Otherwise, begin CPR at a ratio of 30:2 compressions to ventilations at 100 compressions/minute for 5 cycles.

11. After 5 cycles of CPR, the BLS protocol should be repeated from the beginning, assessing the patient's airway, checking for spontaneous breathing, and checking for a spontaneous pulse. If an AED is available after 5 cycles of CPR, it should be attached, activated, and (if indicated) defibrillation should be performed. If defibrillation is performed, 5 more cycles of CPR should be immediately repeated before re-assessment.

12. BLS protocols continue until (1) the patient regains a pulse, (2) the rescuer is relieved by another rescuer of equivalent or higher training, (3) the rescuer is too physically tired to continue CPR, or (4) the patient is pronounced dead by a medical doctor.

13. At the end of five cycles of CPR, always perform defibrillation (AED), and repeat assessment before doing another five cycles.

14. CPR continues indefinitely, until the patient is revived, or until the caregiver is relieved, or discharged by a higher medical authority

15. The CPR cycle is often abbreviated as 30:2 (30 compressions, 2 ventilations or breaths). Note CPR for infants and children uses a 15:2 cycle when two rescuers are performing CPR (but still uses a 30:2 if there is only one rescuer)

Wait for the next DEFGHI okay? :)

References:
1. Adult basic life support, Resuscitation Council UK (pdf)
2. Wikipedia