Bystander CPR can be done safely during COVID-19 pandemic, doctors say

Hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) carries a low risk of transmitting the coronavirus and bystanders who witness a cardiac arrest during the pandemic should not be afraid to perform it, doctors say.

People are wary about close contact with others, so the pandemic is a real threat to bystander CPR, Dr. Sarah Perman of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora told Reuters.

Writing in the journal Circulation, she notes that the American Heart Association recommends hands-only CPR and precautions such as covering faces to reduce the spread of respiratory droplets that may carry the coronavirus.

Bystanders who live with the cardiac arrest victim have likely already been exposed at home.

"Many more lives would be saved than harmed by continuing to perform bystander CPR, especially if basic safety measures are taken," Dr. Torben Becker, an emergency medicine doctor at the University of Florida, told Reuters.

Rescuers should wear a mask and cover the victim's mouth and nose with a cloth such as a shirt, he added. -- Reuters