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HealthConnections: What Is Bystander CPR?

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According to the American Heart Association, 475,000 Americans die each year from cardiac arrest. Many of those cases occur in homes, at offices, or in public spaces - in other words, outside the immediate reach of trained medical personnel.

What, then, can you do until help arrives? Bystander CPR is an option. When done properly, CPR can help save someone's life, or prevent serious brain damage. But CPR alone is unlikely to restore the heart's normal functions. For that, defibrillation must be employed.

In this edition of HealthConnections, Dr. Carole Myers gives you a brief overview of bystander CPR and defibrillation.