SATURDAY, Nov. 13 (HealthDay News) -- When implemented, the
American Heart Association's 2005 guidelines on cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR) can dramatically boost survival rates among
people being treated outside a hospital setting, according to an
expert report.
A case report on the effectiveness of the new guidelines is
scheduled to be presented Saturday at the AHA's annual meeting in
Chicago by Dr. Michael Dailey, an associate professor of emergency
medicine at Albany Medical College.
Dailey also serves as medical director of emergency medical
services (EMS) for the town of Colonie, N.Y., population 80,000. He
said that local implementation of the AHA directives beginning in
2006 translated into a quadrupling of survival rates in his
community over a three-year period.
Adoption of the guidelines took many forms, including the
expansion of CPR training along the lines of the AHA's "CPR
Anytime" format. Since 2005, about 200 Colonie residents a year
have been trained in CPR, Dailey said.
In addition, the town has embraced other AHA suggestions, such
as the use of impedance threshold devices (which increase blood
supply to heart and brain during resuscitation), faster deployment
of mechanical CPR devices, bringing down emergency response times
by upwards of a full minute, a commitment to performing two minutes
of CPR before applying defibrillation, and favoring a period of
high-quality CPR prior to application of advanced airway placement
and IV access.
Also, as of 2009, once in the hospital, resuscitated patients in
comas have received therapeutic hypothermia, he added. Since 2005,
Colonie has also opened three Level One cardiac arrest centers.
The result: Colonie's out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival
track record has jumped from just 4 percent in 2005 to 22 percent
by 2009, Dailey said.
More information
For more on CPR, visit the
American Heart Association.