CPR

I'm crying, that was funny.

How old is this? Because I’ve gotten certified twice in the past 6 years or so and both times they were teaching chest compressions only. I don’t remember the exact numbers now but the outcomes from chest compressions only versus stopping compressions to breathe were dramatically different, something like 40% survival with no permanent brain damage doing compressions only versus less than 5% when stopping to breathe. Turns out the most important thing is to keep the blood flowing and if you stop that to breathe for them it’s hard to get it going again. If you think about it, assuming you’re actually getting the chest compressions deep enough you’re also getting the lungs squeezed and cycling the air some. Probably not as much as a normal breath, but it’s still something.

It's gotta be old. 10 years ago I had to get CPR certified and it was chest compressions only.
And you're right - the actual act of respirations doesn't do any good. The lungs operate on the diaphragm pulling a vacuum. The diaphragm is a muscle. Muscle requires oxygen and exchanges carbon dioxide. Oxygen can only get to muscle if blood is flowing. Further, oxygen and carbon monoxide in the lungs can only be exchanged if there is blood flow. The last breath the person took only consumed 24% of the breath's oxygen. I'm sure it's more complicated than this, but that sounds like if they aren't breathing, you can get 3 more breaths worth of oxygen cycled.
And I agree, if the airway is clear, the compressions are definitely cycling the patient's breath a very small amount. The lungs really don't have any where to go, so each "down" is going to push a tiny amount, and each "up" is going to vacuum in a small amount.
I thought that CPR would have a significantly lower chance of survival in general, that 40% is encouraging to read.
- It’s still being taught I’m pretty sure, just a significant reprioritization
  This jives with my memory:
  The most important takeaway is that mouth-to-mouth CPR is not necessary for bystander intervention. While chest compressions and rescue breaths combined can provide the highest level of success in some situations, compression-only CPR is an effective, safe way to help a cardiac arrest victim. If you have not been trained to administer rescue breaths, you do not need to administer mouth-to-mouth.
This was posted this year

Fuckin hilarious xD