How to Recognize If CPR Is Working

CPR is a common procedure used to give emergency medical assistance to people suffering from sudden cardiac or respiratory arrest. Groups like the Red Cross and the American Medical Association have created detailed rules and guidelines to help both health care professionals and laypersons understand how to administer CPR in times of need. While performing the various steps of the CPR process, it's important to recognize if your efforts are working to revive the patient.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Check to see if skin color returns to a patient while receiving CPR. When someone goes into cardiac or respiratory arrest, the body will get cold and turn a shade of blue. Check for a return of color in the circumoral area (around the mouth). It may take a while for color to return to extremities such as the hands or feet.

2. After performing 10 cycles of chest compressions and artificial respiration breaths, pause to see if the victim's heartbeat has returned. A typical cycle will include 30 chest compressions and two breaths. Even a faint heartbeat can help you recognize if CPR is working.

3. Feel for signs of respiration. If the victim can manage to draw breaths on his own, you'll be able to tell that the CPR is working. Feel for airflow from the victim's nose or mouth, and check to see if his chest is rising.

4. Clear some space if the victim begins to cough or gag. This is the easiest way to recognize if your CPR efforts are successful. It's common for a victim recovering from CPR to struggle for oxygen and in some cases, vomit.

5. Familiarize yourself with all the CPR guidelines and recommendations made by the American Heart Association. Long considered to be the expert on CPR, the AMA maintains an excellent website that's full of useful information on how to administer CPR (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• While it's easy to recognize if CPR is working by gauging a patient's heart rate, it might waste valuable time that could be better spent administering chest compressions and rescue breaths. The American Heart Association recommends laypersons not worry about testing heart rates while performing CPR.
• If your chest compressions aren't forceful enough, they won't do any good. You'll need to make sure your chest compressions are strong enough that they circulate blood through the body. Otherwise, the oxygen you're supplying via ventilation will be futile.
• It can be quite physically demanding to perform CPR. The act of completing chest compressions utilizes many muscles in the body. If you have to perform CPR, be prepared to exhaust yourself.

Resources

• Complete CPR guidelines from the American Heart Association

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