A piece of new medical equipment created at the University of Alberta may provide doctors a quick and safe way to resuscitate patients who go into cardiac arrest due to COVID-19.
The novel coronavirus can create complications in the lungs and many patients are placed on their bellies to improve ventilation.
Many patients with severe COVID-19 go into cardiac arrest. Doctors have to turn them onto their backs to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This makes it risky for doctors, who are exposing themselves to COVID-19 as the patient faces them.
There is also a delay in the help patients might need since doctors have to first flip them over onto their backs. These concerns started the research at the Edmonton university in July on the best way to perform CPR while a patient is in a prone position.
The result was a new CPR board that can be placed between a mattress and patients on their stomachs. A protruding piece of the board, near the breastbone, adds pressure to the chest area while medical staff performing compressions on the backs of prone patients.
Based on lab tests on the board, it showed a 40% increase in the number of effective chest compressions on mannequins in that position.
For more information about this story, click here.
LEARN MORE
Learn how to be ready for emergencies by enrolling in our first aid and CPR course. Our courses maintain social distancing measures with reduced class sizes to maintain the minimum 2 meters apart along with the mandatory use of face masks and regular temperature checks. The venue of the courses undergo regular, enhanced cleaning and disinfection routines.
For more information, check out these sources:
https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-to-do-cpr-1298446
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/how-to-perform-cpr