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A viral video present a rescue actor in Thailand successfully resuscitate a babe elephant using CPR after the animal was shine by a motorbike while cut across a road in the southeastern responsibility of Chanthaburi .
After performing CPR , the rescuer , Mana Srivate , was able to get the elephant back on its feet , Reuters report . But how did he handle to give CPR to such a great animal — and have it actually work ?
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How do you give an elephant CPR?
To do CPR on the elephant , of course , first Mana had to settle the elephant ’s heart . Based on the location of thehuman heartand a TV clip he saw online , Mana " usurp " where the brute ’s mettle was , according to theReuters report . He then kick in the sura chest compressions in much the same way you would for a human , except the elephant was lying on its side .
To perform CPR ( cardiopulmonary resuscitation ) on a human , you place the cad of your handwriting on the breastbone at the center of the person ’s breast , put your other hand on top and interlace your finger . Then , with your shoulder joint above your hands , you press straight down about 2 to 2.5 inch ( 5 to 6 centimetre ) , using your body weight . After release the compression , you echo this gesture at a rate of 100 to 120 time per min until an ambulance get in or you become exhausted , according to theU.K. ’s National Health Service ( NHS ) .
Instructions for elephant CPR are harder to come by . However , in a chapter in the book " Zoo Animal and Wildlife Immobilization and Anesthesia " ( John Wiley & Sons , Inc. , 2014 ) , Søren Boysen , a prof of veterinary clinical and diagnostic sciences at the University of Calgary in Alberta , Canada , yield recommendations on how to perform CPR on animals .
He advises place mammals between about 22 and 220 pounds ( 10 to 100 kilograms ) in " right lateral recumbency , " which means on their right side , just like the elephant in the video . A newborn Asian elephant librate about 200 lbf. ( 90 kg ) , concord toSeaWorld , which is within the weight range Boysen specified . Boysen then recommends doing compression similar to those you would do on a human — and that ’s also what Mana did . ( An elephant ’s heart is about 0.5 % of its body system of weights , allot to the International Elephant Foundation , meaning this calf ’s heart would ’ve been about a Egyptian pound , or 0.5 kg . )
But what if the elephant had been an adult ? When full turn , Asianelephants(Elephas maximus ) can weigh over 5.5 scads ( 5 metric scads ) , concord to theSmithsonian ’s National Zoo , which could make things a bit more difficult , as the accurate proficiency for creature CPR deviate depending on the animate being ’s size . For brute over 550 pounds ( 250 kilogram ) , Boysen pointed to research channel onhorses , in which the researchers achieved compressions by dropping from a standing or crouching position and strike the horse ’s pectus with a articulatio genus , allot to the study , published in 1993 in theEquine Veterinary Journal .
The researchers found a compression rate of 80 ten-strike per minute resulted in the best improvement , although they also noted that this rate is quite physically demanding . Mana performed CPR on the elephant for 10 second before revivify it , consort to theReuters report .
One breeding method acting to help extend to the urge compressing rate in humans is to sing a vocal with that rate in your nous while do the compressions , Live Science antecedently report . ( In the U.S. , the Bee Gees ' " Stayin ' Alive " and Queen ’s " Another One Bites the Dust " are pop picks . )
Ultimately , however , Mana was successful in animate the baby elephant without using any melodious assistance .
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" It ’s my instinct to save life , but I was worried the whole time , because I can get word the mother and other elephants ring for the baby , " Mana told Reuters .
The elephant was later reunited with its female parent and suffered no serious injury , concord to theReuters composition .
Originally published on Live Science .
