Hands, not mouths, are more important for bystanders who perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the American Heart Association says.

In a scientific update issued yesterday, the association said chest compressions, or “hands-only CPR,” save as many sudden cardiac arrest victims as the combination of chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing.

Because people are less willing to do mouth-to-mouth, the update should prompt more people to choose to aid those who collapse from cardiac arrests.

“Don’t be afraid to try it,” said Dr. Michael Sayre, chairman of the association’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee and author of the statement published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. “We are sure many lives will be saved if the public does hands-only CPR for adult victims of sudden cardiac arrest.”

The association said 310,000 adults in the United States die each year from sudden cardiac arrests that occur outside hospital settings. Bystanders who see someone collapse should call 911, then immediately start chest compressions. Without immediate and effective CPR from a bystander, a person’s survival chances decrease 7 percent to 10 percent per minute.

Filed under: EMS