Every second counts: How CPR can save a life

When someone collapses in a market, slumps in a matatu or falls unconscious during a football match, the first instinct is often to call an ambulance or rush them to hospital. But as bystanders scramble for help, precious minutes may slip away. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a technique that helps maintain blood circulation when the heart stops pumping effectively, can improve the chances of survival. “By the time an ambulance arrives, precious minutes may already have been lost. The person standing next to the patient could be the first to make a life-saving difference,” says Dr Barbara Karau, a consultant cardiologist, and Dr Salim Abdallah Salim, a cardiology fellow at Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi. CPR does not necessarily restart the heart. Instead, chest compressions help circulate blood to vital organs while the person awaits further treatment. That circulation can buy valuable time.