Save Lives with the Newest CPR Methods

“About 300,000 people suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the USA each year, either because they’ve had a heart attack or suffered a rhythm disturbance; fewer than 8% survive. An analysis of 3,700 cardiac arrests published Friday in the journal Lancet found that hands-only CPR saved 22% more lives than the conventional method. All told, the switch could save up to 3,000 additional lives a year in the USA and 5,000 to 10,000 in North America and Europe, says lead author Peter Nagele of Washington University in St. Louis.” — USA Today Oct. 18, 2010

“None of us ever hopes to need — or give — cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). But in case of emergency, it pays to understand new guidelines for the procedure, which make it easier for untrained bystanders to perform CPR.” — Time: Healthland Jan 3, 2011