Mouthing Off

Good News for Mouth Breathers Who are Allergic to Mouth Breathers

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Bystanders who want to help a heart attack victim are increasingly being told by 911 dispatchers to skip the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and concentrate on giving chest compressions until medical help arrives. Driven by medical surveys and continued public resistance to giving mouth-to-mouth, emergency medical groups across the country have either changed or are considering changing the traditional instructions given over the phone to untrained individuals helping a heart attack victim. "If someone is going to do nothing because they are apprehensive about doing mouth-to-mouth, it is simple to tell them to find the middle of the chest and start pressing," said Dr. David Wald, a physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. "That is better than nothing." The reasoning is simple: A heart attack victim's chance of survival drops about 10 percent for every minute he or she does not get some type of help. Giving an untrained person instructions on performing mouth-to-mouth wastes some of those precious minutes, but it is relatively easy to tell someone how to properly do chest compressions. ....

But couldn't I at least try mouth to mouth if it's Cindy Crawford or Denise Richards?