Mouth-to-mouth respiration is also possible with a mouth cap

As a result, you may still be able to save someone’s life while protecting yourself or the other person from COVID-19.

When you immediately resuscitate someone who has suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, the chance of survival increases significantly. But the corona pandemic has made this procedure much more complicated. During mouth-to-mouth resuscitation you run the risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19. But even in these cases, a face mask offers a solution, a new study claims.

Mouth to mouth

When a person is in distress and not breathing, a rescuer may choose CPR. In this case, he artificially takes over the breathing and circulation of a person. The rescuer presses his mouth against the patient’s and tries to inflate the lungs with air while simultaneously trying to get the heart to beat again.

Corona pandemic

As mentioned, the corona pandemic has made it more difficult to rescue someone in distress using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Because not only do you as a care provider run the risk of contracting COVID-19, you can also spread it. To reduce that chance, medical personnel and firefighters have access to resources, including a manual resuscitator (a self-inflating bag that you can hold in your hand). But a non-professional volunteer who unsuspectingly walks down the street does not have such a thing in his pocket. Also, medical students pursuing their education during the pandemic are at risk of being less well-educated.

face mask

To close that gap, researchers have studied whether it is possible to provide mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with a mask on, in order to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19. The team observed 104 medical students performing CPR on various manikins for two minutes while wearing a reusable three-layer FFP2 face mask.

It functions

The findings show that it does indeed work to give someone mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with a mask on. For example, it turns out that 90 percent of the breaths resulted in oxygen being delivered to the lungs of the dolls. “Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with a mask on is effective more than 90 percent of the time,” the researchers conclude. “This means that face masks can be used during first aid training during the pandemic.”

Air volume

The researchers also used an app to measure the volume of air pumped into two manikins (Resusci Anne and Resusci Baby). Slightly lesser, but still considerable successes were achieved here, given the circumstances. An optimal amount of air was delivered to Resusci Anne in 33 percent of the ventilations. In addition, 44 percent of the breaths on Resusci Baby contained an optimal air volume. 29 percent and 36 percent, respectively, of breaths were above optimal in air volume and 29 percent and 16 percent were below optimal.

The findings are promising, the researchers say. Because it means that you can hygienically perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with the help of a special breathable FFP2 mouth cap. “We cannot predict how severe the pandemic will be in the fall and what the COVID-19 measures, if any, will look like,” said study researcher Dr. Vafek. “But with the technology, we can at least continue to provide essential training in mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”