Improved CPR Technique Would Increase Survival
The most important message from his own research, Dr. Idris said, is not that there is a specific ideal compression rate, but that the more chest compressions per minute a patient receives, the better the outcome. “If a patient receives 80-100 compressions/min, the survival rate more than triples, compared to 20 chest compressions/min,” he explained.
Dr. Abella and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, have recently increased their rates of survival to hospital discharge for cardiac arrest patients by using defibrillators that monitor CPR, recording and providing feedback on the depth and rate of compressions. They also have initiated a “debriefing” program in which leaders routinely meet with rescue teams to review CPR data immediately after care is given.
EMS programs in Seattle and other locations, in the meantime, have begun telling their paramedics “to start compressions immediately and not intubate—to bag only—for the first 10 minutes,” Dr. Idris said.
