Resuscitation not being performed to guidelines

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A new study suggest that cardiopulmonary resuscitation is not performed as well as it could be.
The value of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for saving people who have suffered a cardiac arrest is well known. In a study, researchers in Oslo, Norway, checked out the performance of nurses and paramedics in out-of-hospital CPR.

The researchers looked at how defibrillators, used to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm, were being used. They found international guidelines were not adhered to up to half of the time. It's not possible, from this study, to know what impact this had on patient survival - but five out of six who survived were discharged with no neurological complications. And 35 per cent of the group had a return of spontaneous circulation. The researchers think that it's important to focus on correct delivery of chest compression and that those trained in CPR may need to have regular updates.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association 19th January 2005 Volume 293 pages 299-304