Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco - December 29, 2007
Carolyn Peirce, cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com
People not only lack the basic confidence to perform CPR but are worried about doing rescue breaths on a stranger because of the fear of contracting HIV and other transmittable diseases, said Nick Geier, health and safety director of the American Red Cross Of Central Maryland.
CPR traditionally involves a combination of rescue breaths and compressions, but a new method employs just compressions.
"If you just do compressions, you can restore blood circulation to vital organs," Geier said.
"But for every minute delayed of any type of care, [a person's] chances of survival decrease by 10 percent."
Another factor dissuading people, he said, is the possibility of being sued if something goes wrong - injury to the chest during compressions.
However, these lawsuits rarely occur, because Maryland's Good Samaritan law is designed to protect rescuers from legal repercussions, said Byron Warnken, a University of Baltimore law professor.
People are not obligated by law to help a person in need, but once they decide to intervene, they assume responsibility for the person and must stay until medical professionals arrive, according to the state statute.
The law defines negligence as what a reasonable person would do in a similar situation.
"If you're going to get involved, the law says you are only eligible to be sued if your conduct grossly deviates from, or is much worse than, what a reasonably prudent person would have done at that time," Warnken said.
In addition, a person cannot accept or expect compensation for helping someone in a medical emergency, according to the statute.
"If you bring me a plate of cookies to say thank you for saving my life, that's very different than entering a bargain where I say, 'What's in it for me if I help? or 'I'll help with this for that,'" Warnken said.
The best option is to take a CPR class and become comfortable with reacting to an emergency, Geier said.
"Do you want to be one of those 10 people standing around not knowing what to do, or do you want to be the one to help?" asked Geier.
"Most people know at least to call 911."
FAST FACTS
* Only 3 percent of the nation's population are trained in CPR, which breaks down to less than 12 million people.
In Central Maryland, which includes Baltimore City and the five surrounding counties, about 52,000 of the 2.6 million residents were trained in CPR last year. This amounts to 2.2 percent of the population in region, said Nick Geier, health and safety director of the American Red Cross of Central Maryland.
* Cardiopulmonary resuscitation can restore circulation of oxygen-rich blood to the brain.
Without oxygen, permanent brain damage or death can occur in less than eight minutes, according to medical studies.
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