Improving Outcomes of Cardiac Arrest: Don't Forget About Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation!

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many predicted that automated external defibrillators would markedly improve cardiac arrest outcomes; unfortunately, these hopes were not realized. In 2005, the American Heart Association published resuscitation guidelines reemphasizing the importance of circulatory support with properly performed chest compressions in addition to defibrillation. Changes from previous recommendations included a compression-to-ventilation ratio of 30:2, ventilation at ≤10 breaths per minute, and a more-vigorous compression technique. To evaluate the effects of the new guidelines, investigators compared outcomes in 1605 cardiac arrest patients treated according to the 2005 guidelines and 1641 controls treated before guidelin…