More CPR, less shock for cardiac arrest, heart group urges

[liberato]

More CPR, less shock for cardiac arrest, heart group urges

DALLAS, Texas (Reuters) -- More CPR, less shock: that is the new directive issued by the American Heart Association on Monday for emergency workers helping victims of cardiac arrest.

Tests show that giving a little cardiopulmonary resuscitation before using a defibrillator can help more heart patients survive a crisis in which their heart stops pumping blood effectively.

[...]​

 

[fisherdvm]

By the time I find the defibrillator, and figure out how to use it, it would have been at least 3 minutes. I sure hope someone was doing CPR to keep the patient's brain alive. Hate to say it, I don't this this "New" recommendation is going to affect what already is happening in 99% of the cases in real life - where CPR is already going on before the defibrillator arrived.

 

[PairofMedics]

Actually, our department is very much a part of this. Our registry has helped hundreds of researchers advance emergency and prehospital medicine. Our new protocols regarding more CPR before defibriliation go into effect Jan 1st, 2007 -the delay due to the ability and need to educate over 800 ALS providers that practice in this county. The very basics of it make sense to even the non-medical community. Creating artificial circulation (CPR) to an already oxygen deprived heart (and vital organs) creates a more favorable response to any form of electricity/defibrilation. The shock is more effective on the myocardium. I've read the documentation that supports this thru AHA and it appears they've a strong arguement, strong enough to start making EMS departments change the way they practice ACLS....at least down here in the tropics.:14:

 

[Wildcard]

WOW where would we be without you!
Please see "New ACLS" from two months ago.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=163481&highlight=acls

 

[liberato]

Sorry that I did not see your thread but it had been inactive for for over a month so it did not show up when I looked through the Diving Medicine threads. Additionally, I did a search on key phrases in the article to assure it had not been yet been posted. It is a new arcticle (Dec 11 '06) about an official announcement made on that date. Anyway, no harm done. Interested readers of the Reuters/CNN article about the AHA directive can follow-up to your thread as posted above for more of an insider perspective and for the background information which led to the announcement.

 

[Wildcard]

I was refering to POM and his comments. Seems if anything happens around him he takes credit for it but dismisses those of us that have been bringing EMS to where it is at longer than he has been alive.

 

[PairofMedics]

goodness, wildcard, I never meant such! The department I work for, I only just started with and it research and cutting edge medicine is one of the reasons I joined. I have been practicing pre-hospital emergency medicine for 13 yrs now, and my husband for 9 years, we are indeed infants in comparison to many and am well aware of it! Never did I mean to offend or discredit those who have come before me and who work along side us in our efforts to advance medicine in all it's aspects.