Two newly released studies in the New England Journal of Medicine may change the way many are taught to administer CPR. The results of the Compression-Only CPR or Standard CPR in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest trial and the Dispatcher-Assisted Resuscitation Trial (DART) trial suggest that chest compressions alone may be enough to help save a person’s life, making mouth-to-mouth resuscitation no longer necessary. Both studies found no significant difference in survival between patients who received only chest compression and those who received chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth. The DART trial also found that chest compressions alone may actually increase survival in certain patients.
For more information on these studies, read the Journal Scan summaries of the articles:
For your patients: Visit CardioSmart for the patient edition of this news story, and additional patient education information on CPR. |