b'Chapter hapterRescue BreathingRescue breaths are given when a patient is not breathing normally. A head injury, choking, drowning, smoke inhalation and drug overdose can cause breathing to stop.Without oxygen, brain cells begin to die within 3 to 4 minutes. This can lead to irreversible brain damage and if breathing is not restored, death is inevitable. Rescue breaths provide life-giving oxygen into the lungs so it can be artificially circulated to all the cells in the body via the blood stream. The air around us contains approximately 21% oxygen. Our body only requires a small amount of this oxygen for normal breathing. Every time we exhale, we breathe out about 17% oxygen. It is this principle that makes rescue breathing effective. Recovery RatesThe above chart shows that if rescue breaths are commenced within one minute of respiratory arrest (not breathing), the patient has a 98% chance of making a full recovery, but if rescue breaths are not given until 10 minutes after respiratory arrest, the chance of making a full recovery is almost nil.Resuscitation 45'