First aid: More courage to do chest compressions

Lisa Vogel studied departmental journalism with a focus on medicine and biosciences at Ansbach University and deepened her journalistic knowledge in the master's degree in multimedia information and communication. This was followed by a traineeship in the editorial team. Since September 2020 she has been writing as a freelance journalist for

More posts by Lisa Vogel All content is checked by medical journalists.

Every year, more than 50,000 people in Germany suddenly feel their hearts stop. But only in a good third of cases do first-aiders dare to undertake resuscitation. That is about to change: From September 17 to 23, the week of resuscitation aims to encourage laypeople to do chest compressions.

The German Society for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DGAI) motivates people to provide first aid in emergency situations with numerous campaigns. This works in three simple steps "check - call - press". The core message: Resuscitation is child's play.

"Check - call - press"

In the event of a cardiac arrest, it is important to first check whether the patient is actually unconscious. Then help is notified via the emergency call. The helper then maintains the blood circulation by regularly pressing on the chest. You can read exactly what you have to pay attention to in the article Resuscitation.

Other initiatives also offer projects outside of the week of resuscitation to provide information on correct behavior in an emergency and resuscitation measures. In schools, a first aid course should be compulsory on the curriculum so that children come into contact with the subject at an early stage. Virtual support is also available in the event of an emergency: various apps are available to help first aiders with resuscitation.

Refresh emergency knowledge

Such refreshments seem necessary, because many of the first aid courses were a long time ago: a 2017 survey by Asklepios Kliniken shows that half of 1,000 respondents were at least ten years ago.

"The interest in the topic and the general willingness to help are great, but the knowledge is incomplete," says Prof. Alexander Ghanem, senior physician in cardiology at the Asklepios Clinic in Hamburg. Many people shied away from life-saving measures for fear of doing something wrong. Only 23 percent of respondents rate their resuscitation skills as “good”.

First aid doubles the chance of survival

Quick help in the event of a cardiovascular arrest is essential for survival: If the heart stops, the body and brain are no longer supplied with oxygen. The result: brain cells die and permanent damage occurs. After just five minutes without oxygen, the chance of survival drops significantly.

In the event of sudden cardiac arrest, chest compressions can bridge the time until the emergency doctor arrives. Such a resuscitation attempt doubles the patient's chance of survival.

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