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What is artificial respiration?

Artificial Respiration or Artificial Ventilation is known as the method used to stimulate and assist breathing, when natural breathing stops in certain cases, such as: drowning, suffocation, carbon monoxide poisoning, and electric shock, and it is considered part of first aid, Which aims to restore the ability to breathe normally.

How to do artificial respiration

Artificial respiration is performed in two stages:

• The first stage: Trying to create an open passage for air from the upper respiratory tract.
• The second stage: achieving the process of exchanging air and carbon dioxide while the heart is still working.
• For the success of these two stages, it must be started as soon as possible and continued until it is certain that the patient is able to breathe again.

What are the methods of artificial respiration?

There are different methods of artificial respiration, which are divided into manual and mechanical methods, which will be detailed as follows:

Manual methods of artificial respiration

Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation: This method is done by manually blowing air into the lungs of the injured person, then the paramedic blows the exhaled air into the lungs of the injured person, and this method is part of the steps of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Breathing using a mask: This method is the recommended method and is often resorted to if the patient cannot breathe, which is done using a mechanical device that helps the patient breathe by applying pressure on the airways to help open them and achieve the natural breathing process.
Mouth-to-nose breathing: The rescuer often resorts to this method if there is vomiting in the patient’s mouth or injuries, and thus air is blown into the nose to deliver air to the patient.

Mechanical methods or artificial respiration machine

This method is known as the artificial ventilation machine that is performed in the hospital under the supervision of the doctor, where air is blown into the lungs to maintain the level of oxygen in the blood, but to obtain this advantage the doctor needs a way to reach the lungs, for example a tube may be inserted into the mouth. Or the nose, or in the opening of the trachea by making a tracheostomy.

Schaffer's Method

One of the advantages of this method is that water is easily drained from the abdomen and lungs. It is an easy and non-tiring method, especially in the case of chest or back injuries. It is done through these steps:

• The patient is placed on his stomach, making sure to extend one arm straight up and the other arm bent at the elbow.
• The face is turned outward so that the nose and mouth are available for breathing.
• The doctor places his hand on the patient's waist and applies pressure by bending forward.
• The doctor pushes the abdominal viscera to cause exhalation, and thus the exhalation is pressed forward until a backward bend occurs.

Sylvester's Method

This method helps activate both inhalation and exhalation for good breathing, but one of its disadvantages is that water cannot be drained from the lungs, as the patient is often lying on his back, and therefore this procedure is not used in cases of drowning, and these are the most prominent steps in it.

• A pillow is placed under the patient's shoulder and neck, and the doctor then kneels near his head.
• The doctor grabs the patient's wrist to pull his arms up, which in turn causes him to inhale.
• The arms are bent forward to put pressure on the patient which in turn causes the patient to exhale.