CPR: Compression-Only Wins the Long Race

Bystanders, forget about the breaths — pump that chest!

While rescue breathing might be important in certain situations, emergency medical service (EMS) dispatchers have a difficult time quickly establishing whether it's appropriate for individual victims. Compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) obviates the need for this determination, but there have been no definitive long-term data supporting a shift to compression-only CPR.

Researchers combined data from two randomized trials comparing standard CPR with compression-only CPR and measured outcomes up to 5 years after the event. The aggregate group included 2500 patients. Overall survival was 11% at one year, 10.6% at 3 years, and 9.4% at 5 years. Compression-only CPR was associated with a lower risk for death (adjusted hazard ratio…

Reviewing Author

J. Stephen Bohan, MD, MS, FACP, FACEP

Disclosures

RoyaltiesKlint Law Firm

Editorial boardsCritical Decisions in Emergency Medicine

J. Stephen Bohan, MD, MS, FACP, FACEP

Disclosures

RoyaltiesKlint Law Firm

Editorial boardsCritical Decisions in Emergency Medicine