Residents Learn Hands-Only CPR to Save Lives

More than 100 citizens squeezed in a few minutes of their day to learn hands-only CPR Thursday, an effort that officials say will likely save lives.

The "Sidewalk CPR" training sessions were held at the OASIS Senior Center in Corona del Mar, the Newport Pier and the Balboa Island Fire Station by firefighters and lifeguards from the Newport Beach Fire Department. The 10-minute training sessions were conducted as part of a countywide effort to teach community members basic, hands-only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.

Andrew Belden, a Newport Beach paramedic, says hands-only CPR is different from mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

"This is only compressions, and we want the community to learn it because often with mouth-to-mouth if you don't do it all the time, people get confused on what to do," Belden explained. "How to do the compressions properly is fairly easy to learn and you can easily remember how to do it."

Paramedic Brian Gray said training more people in Newport Beach on basic life-saving skills is essential because a person has a better chance of surviving cardiac arrest if they are tended to quickly.

"Most people don't step in because of the fear factor, but you really can't make them any worse then they already are," Gray explained. "We much rather you jump in then just sit there and let them die."

Officials say bystander CPR can double or triple a victim's chance of survival. At the Sidwalk CPR event, participants received a wallet-size card with the following Hands-Only CPR instructions.

Hands-Only CPR:

• Check responsiveness of the victim, shake and shout
• Place the person on the ground on their back
• Tell someone to call 911 or if you're alone call 911 yourself
• Position yourself close to the person with your knees touching their arm or chest
• Lace your hands together and place them on the center/middle of the person's chest
• Push hard and fast, with a goal of 100 times a minute and two inches deep (For babies, 1/3 inches deep)
• Keep going until help arrives