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Traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
training includes instruction on giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in
addition to chest compressions. For those trained in CPR, this is still
the best way to revive a cardiac arrest victim. But new study findings
show that for those not trained in CPR, chest compression alone is also
an effective form of CPR.
The study was based on the outcomes of 520 cases
where 911 dispatchers gave instructions over the telephone to people calling
to report cardiac arrest cases. Some callers were walked through traditional
CPR, while others were instructed only to give chest compressions while
waiting for paramedics or police to arrive. Chest compression alone "may
be the preferred approach for bystanders inexperienced in CPR.
And the researchers note that chest compression
CPR may help more people to try resuscitation while waiting for help to
arrive. Ninety percent of the 911 callers accepted the offer to receive
CPR instructions, the authors report, but callers receiving instruction
in chest compression plus mouth-to-mouth breathing were more than twice
as likely as those receiving chest compression-only instructions to terminate
them by hanging up or by deeming them too difficult to follow.
But an American Heart Association (AHA) news release states this does
not mean that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation should be abandoned. A trained
rescuer is very likely going to increase the chances of survival by doing
mouth-to-mouth along with chest compression.
NEJM
May 25, 2000;342:1546-1553, 1599-1601
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