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Emergency room doctors stress that bystanders, not doctors, are often the difference between life and death during cardiac arrest.

It’s National CPR & AED Awareness Week, and emergency physician Dr. Amer Aldeen, Chief Medical Officer for US Acute Care Solutions wants you to know you are the first responder, when it comes to saving a life.

"The thing about cardiac arrest is the die is cast before they even come into the emergency room many times, and the difference between life and death is you all," he said.

Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere and often without warning. When it does, there’s little time to wait for help.

According to Aldeen, a bystander who performs CPR can double or even triple a person's chances of survival.

"When I see them in the emergency department, that’s sort of the last stage. I’m only able to rescue one out of ten,” he said. “That means nine out of ten people die who come in with cardiac arrest.”

He said the only way to improve that ratio is by relying on people to step in and start CPR when they see a person unconscious.

What to do if someone collapses
According to American Heart Association Tampa Bay, if you see someone collapse, these steps are simple and critical:

Check for responsiveness.
Tap and shout: "Are you okay?"

Call 911.
Put your phone on speaker and place it nearby so you can begin compressions immediately while talking to an operator.

Start hands-only CPR.
Place the heel of one hand on the center of the chest (on the sternum), interlock your other hand on top.

Aldeen said the key is to keep your elbows locked to make it easier. To help keep rhythm, many CPR instructors recommend compressions to the beat of the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive," which hits the recommended 100 to 120 beats per minute. AHA also has a Spotify playlist of songs that work just as well.

For teens and adults, mouth-to-mouth is not necessary, unless you're comfortable with it. Hands-only CPR is enough to make a difference as it keeps blood pumping when the heart’s own system fails.

“The heart is essentially two things. It's a pump and it's an electrical system,” Aldeen said. “Sometimes the pump is out, sometimes the electrical system is out, sometimes they’re both out. CPR helps the pump part.”

An automated external defibrillator (AED), used by emergency crews or found in many public spaces, can address the electrical issue. Emergency responders will arrive with one, or call for one if the emergency happens in a public area.

When it comes to training yourself on how to respond, Aldeen offered this example, “You're going to go into a car after this, you're going to wear your seatbelt. Why? Because it improves your survival by two to three times. That's the same thing as bystander CPR. So if you wear a seatbelt, you should do bystander CPR.”

The American Heart Association has a tool to find a CPR class near you or to learn hands-only CPR online.