Compression-Only CPR by Lay Bystanders Gains Ground

For more than a decade, growing evidence has suggested that rescue breathing might add little value, or perhaps even be detrimental, during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). In 2010, more evidence emerged to support this hypothesis, and new guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) strengthened the emphasis on chest compressions for bystanders who administer CPR.

In two randomized trials, researchers compared survival rates after out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in which emergency service dispatchers instructed bystanders in either standard CPR (with rescue breathing) or compression-only CPR. Both trials — one conducted in Seattle and London and the other in Sweden — showed nonsignificant trends in favor of compression-only CPR …