New CPR Method

[Trauma_Junkie]

Yes I agree w/ IrEMT and KSemt122.

Here's my .02 ... AHA is for the united states and CHA is for Canada. Every country has their own Heart Association and they all compare with each other. In other countries they have non-ventilatatory CPR as the standard w/ ALMOST IDENTICAL SURVIVAL RATES as US.

The way I see it there is only 2 advantages to doing non-ventilatory CPR ... easier to remember for lay person ... safer for rescuer, not requiring mouth to mouth.

Remember the chain of survival ... unless it's a pediatric ... a cardiac arrest really requires early defibrialtion ... a pt in v-fib or pulseless v-tac would have a better chance of survival with defibrilation in 2 min than a pt that recieves CPR immediately and defibrilation 5 min later.

~~

[vs-eh?]

vs-eh, just wondering if you can explain or provide a link to something that explains exactly why this new method is better in theory. Most of us seem to just be thinking that without getting O2 into the body, there's no point in pumping blood... obviously there's more to it than just this so I'm curious to know how it works so well.

I don't remember exactly why it works well. I believe it has something to do with ATP and "priming" the heart to make it more receptive to defibriation. I'm sure if you emailed Toronto EMS/Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Center (our base hospital) they would be more than happy to provide the studies/why we are trialing this.

Remember that in healthy people (which obviously aren't most cardiac arrest patients, but still) have a residual volume that can supply adequate oxygen for a significant amount of time provided proper CPR. Stopping CPR for x amount of time increases mortality significantly, something like 10sec interuption is 10% increased mortality, 20sec is 40%....I'm ballparking but you see the trend.

If these studies do pan out I would wager that you would see changes made to how UNWITNESSED arrests are run. For a witnessed arrest (by any one with a defib) normal early defib would remain unchanged.

[Guest]

As many times as I have done CPR and as many saves (which is none) as there have been, I would be willing to try anything but I would really rather keep the current method. I have gotten people back for a short period but with our area being so big and so rural it is hard to keep them with ya. Just my opinion.

Which part of the state are you in bumper?