zorro
03-16-2007, 10:29 PM
Overturning a century of conventional medical wisdom, Japanese researchers reported Thursday that simple chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth ventilation save twice as many heart attack victims as traditional CPR.
The findings could have important implications in emergency medicine. As many as three-quarters of bystanders who observe a heart attack in a stranger decline to perform CPR, fearing infectious diseases.
The report "should lead to a prompt revision of the guidelines for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest," Dr. Gordon A. Ewy of the University of Arizona College of Medicine wrote in an editorial accompanying the study, which was published in the medical journal Lancet.
The National Academies of Emergency Dispatch revised its guidelines in 2005 to suggest that 911 operators emphasize cardiac compression.
"Most people do better with compressions only," said Dr. Paul E. Pepe, head of the emergency medicine department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, who wrote the guidelines for the dispatchers.
But experts cautioned that the new rules applied only to people who collapsed suddenly from a heart attack. Those suffering from respiratory arrest, including victims of drowning and drug overdoses, still require conventional CPR.
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Full story here: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-sci-cpr16mar16,1,2467605.story?coll=la-health-medicine
The findings could have important implications in emergency medicine. As many as three-quarters of bystanders who observe a heart attack in a stranger decline to perform CPR, fearing infectious diseases.
The report "should lead to a prompt revision of the guidelines for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest," Dr. Gordon A. Ewy of the University of Arizona College of Medicine wrote in an editorial accompanying the study, which was published in the medical journal Lancet.
The National Academies of Emergency Dispatch revised its guidelines in 2005 to suggest that 911 operators emphasize cardiac compression.
"Most people do better with compressions only," said Dr. Paul E. Pepe, head of the emergency medicine department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, who wrote the guidelines for the dispatchers.
But experts cautioned that the new rules applied only to people who collapsed suddenly from a heart attack. Those suffering from respiratory arrest, including victims of drowning and drug overdoses, still require conventional CPR.
What did you think that this thread was going to be about?
Full story here: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-sci-cpr16mar16,1,2467605.story?coll=la-health-medicine