Eli5: when giving CPR, wouldn’t the lungs be compressed and released, creating a vacuum and providing some oxygen? If so, how does brain hypoxia still occur?
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The blood flow is what’s important. There’s some oxygen in the blood, but the body is designed with the idea of that supply constantly moving. The brain most notably doesn’t keep much of a reserve of oxygen because it always trusts blood to be coming and going with more oxygen.
Well that’s stopped, and the brain shuts down pretty quick. Damage and death follows soon behind.
The goal isn’t necessarily to keep the proverbial train well stocked, but to keep the train moving at all. An unconscious person doesn’t need all that much oxygen and there’s still some in the lungs. It’s good enough that you should just focus on keeping the heart “beating”.
And honestly, odds aren’t even all that great that the person will come around just from CPR. Call 911 (get someone else to do it if possible if you’re doing CPR) and get medical help on its way. Brain damage occurs in about 3-4 minutes without blood flow. The purpose of CPR is buy time on that clock while the ambulance is on its way.
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