The Two Movements of Rescue

In every CPR certification class, instructors drill the same lesson into their students: compressions alone are not enough. You press the chest — thirty rhythmic pushes over the heart — and then you tilt the head back, seal your mouth over theirs, and breathe. Heart and mouth, working together. Skip the compressions, and oxygenated blood never reaches the brain. Skip the breaths, and the blood carries nothing worth delivering.…