Cardiologist shows importance of mouthless CPR

FOX 2 (WJBK) - "Unfortunately over 70 percent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, where your heart stops, happens outside the hospital," said Dr. Brittany Fuller, Henry Ford Health

Places like beaches and parks where people swim and have fun, can take a scary turn in warmer weather.

"I was swimming one time with my friends and one of them swam past the buoys," said Xavier Walker, Detroit.. "He almost got swept away."

That’s when Xavier learned CPR in case he needs to save a life.

"If you do rapid CPR, get to them quickly, and start CPR - you can actually improve their survival double, if not triple," Fuller said.

Medical experts say mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is no longer recommended, but hands-only CPR is an emergency procedure everyone should know ..

But before you start, call 911

"Because once you start doing CPR, you want to keep doing it until help arrives," Fuller said.

Fuller of Henry Ford Health, shows us how it’s properly performed.

"You want to feel where the bone is, in the chest," she said. "And then you want to put your hand just above that and then you want to interlock your fingers.

"So you want to be over the patient on your knees, and you want to rapid (compress) down on that person's chest.

"Essentially you are squeezing the person's heart from the outside, allowing that blood flow to get to the brain."

Doctors say one way to stay on course when performing CPR is to recite the words of one of two popular songs.

"A popular one is The Bee Gees' 'Stayin' Alive' or even Beyoncé's 'Crazy In Love' Got Me Looking So Crazy In Love," she said. "And you want to stay in that beat which is about 120 beats per minute."

You should stop only when emergency crews arrive, or the person is breathing.

There’s also hands-only CPR for children and infants.

"For 5, 6 years old," said Fuller. "You don’t want to do the two hands. You actually might just be able to compress the chest with one hand. If it’s an infant or a smaller child, you want to be able to bring them up in your hands on your lap and compress with your two thumbs."

National CPR Awareness Week is in June and doctors say it’s a reminder of how crucial this training is.

"And I think we saw that very well with the NFL player, Damar Hamlin," she said. "He got CPR quickly, there was no delay and he is doing very well."