High-Quality CPR Requires Measurement and Feedback

Survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) continues to be dismal in many EMS systems around the world.1 Is this actually true, or is it merely an often-used opening line to thousands of papers published annually on OHCA survival? Evidence from many communities suggests otherwise. In fact, in many jurisdictions, survival from OHCA has improved dramatically, impacting many lives.2–5 So, what’s the difference between some jurisdictions and others when it comes to OHCA survival? Are there common themes that others can learn from in improving their own survival rates? One of the common themes we see in areas with higher survival rates is a focus on providing high-quality CPR to patients in OHCA. Compression rate, depth, shock pause duration, release velocity and the use of CPR feedback have all been associated with improved outcomes and are highlighted repeatedly in the 2015 AHA/ILCOR guidelines as crucial factors to improving outcomes from OHCA.6–13 (See Figure 1.) Yet surprisingly, many systems around the world still fail to measure these metrics, despite the widespread availability of technology that makes this process both simple and inexpensive. But many systems choose to find any number of reasons, such as cost, workload and failure to have resources to implement these systems, as an excuse not to measure CPR quality, which is truly a shame. The well-known adage of “if you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” has never been more appropriate than i...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Training Cardiac & Resuscitation Exclusive Articles Patient Care Heart of America Top Story Source Type: news