After the compression is applied, your hands should rest on the chest with no force. The chest will recoil by itself. Your hands should not lift from the chest when it rebounds.
Since pushing on the chest is compressing the heart between the sternum and spine, you must let the chest recoil to allow the blood to re-fill the chambers before compressing the chest (pumping the heart) again.
After you compress or push down onto the chest, let your weight come completely off of the patients chest. You can leave your hand on there but make sure that you arent depressing the chest.
During CPR when you are compressing the chest, when you lift up from the chest it is called a recoil, it allows the blood to go through the heart. If you don't give it time to recoil ( allow the blood to go through the heart) than you are not doing any good for the patient or any good for yourself you are pushing yourself to hard and leaves the patient in danger.
weight off from the victims chest
Tell the compressor you notice decreased chest
Allow full reco ilof the chest but maintain skin to skin contact
The chest will recoil after compressions automatically. Just make sure that when the chest recoils, your arms are not resisting the recoil, e.g. your hands should be resting on the chest during the recoil, without coming off the chest.
Chest recoil is crucial in high-quality CPR because it allows the heart to refill with blood between compressions, promoting effective circulation. Without adequate recoil, the pressure in the chest remains elevated, hindering blood flow to the heart and reducing the overall effectiveness of compressions. This can significantly impact the chances of survival and neurological outcomes for the patient. Ensuring full chest recoil helps maximize blood flow to vital organs during resuscitation efforts.
victim will resume breathing on their own
Compression depth does not affect the recoil ability of the chest; compress 1/2 to 1 inch for infant, 1 to 1 1/2 inches child and 2 inches for an adult.
During exhalation, elastic recoil is responsible for the passive recoil of the lungs and chest wall. As the diaphragm and external intercostal muscles relax, the elastic fibers in the lungs and chest wall recoil, pushing air out of the lungs. This process helps to expel air from the lungs and facilitates the breathing cycle.
The chest wall and the lung tissue recoil