No Heartbeat
============

When to give chest compressions
-------------------------------

Check for a pulse (heartbeat) on the neck. Or listen by putting your
ear on
the left side of the chest.

check for a pulse
<gopher://tilde.pink/1/~bencollver/books/no-doctor/03-breathing/>

Where to listen on the chest
<gopher://tilde.pink/I/~bencollver/books/no-doctor/images/jpg/
190px-NWTND_fa_Page_7-1.jpg>

If there is no heartbeat, try to restart it with chest compressions.
It is important to start chest compressions quickly, so if you are
not sure if you have found a heartbeat, or if the heartbeat is very
faint, it is safest to do chest compressions.

Give chest compressions


Push hard and fast on the center of the chest 30 times.  Push
straight down, about 5 cm (2 in).  Try for a fast rate, at least 100
times a minute, but the exact rate is not important.  Push hard and
fast!

Chest compressions
<gopher://tilde.pink/I/~bencollver/books/no-doctor/images/jpg/
290px-NWTND_fa_Page_7-2.jpg>

Give rescue breaths


After 30 chest compressions, give 2 rescue breaths that make the
chest rise.

rescue breaths
<gopher://tilde.pink/1/~bencollver/books/no-doctor/03-breathing/>

Continue with compressions and breaths


Keep alternating between 30 chest compressions and 2 rescue breaths.
You may have to do this for a long time.  Continue until the person
is breathing and alert, or until there is no doubt he is dead.

Get help


If you can get the person to a hospital quickly, do so.  Keep giving
chest compressions and rescue breathing on the way.  This will help
to keep the body functions going until you can get help.

This may bring life back to someone after electrocution, drowning, if
he suffered a very hard blow to the chest, hypothermia (too cold), or
drug overdose.  Chest compressions are less likely to help someone
after a heart attack, but are worth trying, especially if you can get
more medical help.

(See more about heart attacks.)
<gopher://tilde.pink/1/~bencollver/books/no-doctor/16-heart-attack/>

A medical device called a defibrillator gives an electric shock to
re-start the heart after a heart attack. Find out before emergencies
happen if there are defibrillators in your community and where they
are kept.  They are sometimes found in ambulances, or in public
places like a police station or a large hotel.

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