HMN 2025: How ‘Tongue swallowing prevention maneuvers’ delay CPR, may contribute to mind damage or loss of life for collapsed athletes

Despite widespread public well being efforts, the harmful fable of “prevention of tongue-swallowing” continues to persist throughout cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). New research within the Canadian Journal of Cardiology exposes the mainstream and social media’s detrimental position in perpetuating this false impression, which frequently results in important delays in correct CPR for collapsed athletes.

Concern about “tongue-swallowing” leads resuscitators to waste beneficial time attempting to take away the tongue from the airway path, slightly than instantly initiating important CPR procedures. The findings from this evaluation underscore an pressing want for international public well being campaigns to appropriate CPR myths and emphasize the significance of instant chest compressions. The study systematically analyzed 45 instances of athletes collapsing throughout sports activities occasions (1990–2024) that had been caught on video or documented on-line, specializing in preliminary resuscitation actions and corresponding media protection.

Commenting on the primary findings of the evaluation, Dana Viskin, MD—the lead investigator of the article titled “The Myth of “Tongue Swallowing’ Delays Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation of Athletes With Cardiac Arrest, Yet It Is Often Perpetuated by the Media,”—says, “Our evaluation confirmed that in 84% of instances where the preliminary response was seen, inappropriate maneuvers to ‘stop tongue-swallowing’ had been carried out earlier than correct CPR. These incorrect actions had been considerably related to poor outcomes: 67% of these receiving such maneuvers died or had extreme mind damage, in comparison with 0% when CPR was the primary response.”

Dr. Viskin is from the Department of Cardiology, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University.

Media evaluation revealed that just about half (48%) of high-exposure information articles explicitly used the time period “tongue-swallowing,” with most praising the lay responder for his or her actions. In articles describing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) instances, 77% referenced “tongue-swallowing” with out acknowledging its inappropriateness as a response to SCA, but solely 23% explicitly criticized the intervention.

“Given that some SCA sufferers, notably younger males with shockable arrest rhythms, could exhibit seizure-like exercise at onset—a sample often noticed in sports-related SCA—it’s comprehensible how this fable could have carried into the general public response to athletic SCA, regardless of the absence of scientific guideline help for such an intervention,” factors out Nicholas Grubic, MSc, the writer of the accompanying editorial, titled “Countering Misinformation within the Response to Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Athletes.” Grubic is from the Division of Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.

“Furthermore, indicators akin to cyanosis and agonal respirations might be mistaken for choking, usually prompting bystanders to prioritize airway inspection over initiating CPR. Recent qualitative analysis has confirmed that such misinterpretations can delay and even interrupt life-saving interventions. Although selling CPR and automatic exterior defibrillator (AED) data stays a cornerstone of SCA training, educating the general public to acknowledge the early indicators of an arrest is equally important, as each second with out motion drastically reduces the possibility of survival.”

This analysis is particularly vital now, as public CPR training turns into more and more important with widespread media publicity to cardiac arrests in sports activities.

“Our study highlights the harmful and protracted false impression of ‘tongue-swallowing prevention,’ which may delay the initiation of life-saving chest compressions. These delays could price lives, and but the media usually reward such misguided actions as heroic. We urgently have to re-educate the general public and the media and reframe the narrative round CPR, particularly in sports activities,” emphasizes Dr. Viskin.

Mr. Grubic provides in conclusion, “Coordinated, evidence-informed communication methods are important to counter misinformation and help public understanding, notably in high-stakes conditions such because the response to SCA in athletes. Our public capability to avoid wasting lives shouldn’t be impeded by misinformed voices—now could be the time for the educational, well being care, and media sectors to affix forces and construct a more healthy info setting for all.

“Responding to SCA is a crew sport that begins with correct training to make sure that everybody is able to step in, keep targeted, and act. Although the prize is just not a trophy, it’s one thing far more beneficial.”