Online CPR Certification Blog

It’s been noted that performing CPR for a prolonged period of time on a patient suffering from cardiac arrest can increase their slim chances of living by very huge margins. This study done is applicable to both children and adults in need of CPR after suddenly suffering from cardiac arrests.

Use of prolonged CPR method to save lives

The outcome from the study change a lot of things most notably hospital practice methods. All this is according to Dr. Robert Berg, the chief of critical care medicine based at a Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. He is also a co-writer in the research.

Dr. Berg said that many are of the school of thought that performing Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or better known as CPR is pointless once 20 minutes has elapsed.

The studies mainly focused on ways which the time spend performing CPR impacted hospitalized patients suffering from cardiac arrest. This should be noted as the point where the patient’s heart stopped beating.

Examining the cases of both short and prolonged CPR

Medical records of over 3400 kids who were hospitalized in Canada and the US after suffering from cardiac arrest were looked at in the first study. This was done in between the year 2000 and the year 2009.

The researchers discovered that a higher number of children that initially anticipated survived when CPR was administered for a longer duration. The duration was assumed to be more than 35 minutes. 60% of kids who survived the ordeal after prolonged CPR came out without any damage to their brains. The method was therefore offering kids with a slightly higher chance of living with less risks of mental damage involved.

According to the finding from the study, the chance of kids who were mainly admitted for heart surgery surviving was higher than that of those admitted due to other complications.

The consequent study examined 64,000 adults admitted to hospitals from the year 2000 to 2008 due to cardiac arrest. There was a 12% difference with patients who received prolonged CPR surviving more than those who got it for a shorter duration. This just goes to show you that there was victims who received prolonged CPR were 12% more likely to survive as compared to those who received short timed CPR. The facts clearly indicate thus making this a far much better alternative as compared to administering CPR for a shorter period. The median of the duration taken for prolonged CPR procedures stood at 25 minutes while that of short CPR was at 16 minutes. This is a different of 9 minutes which could be used to increase the chances of survival.

The study, recently published in ‘The Lancet’, indicates that there were more or less similar mental repercussions for adults who lived after both prolonged and short CPR was performed.

Dr. Berg is from the AHA (American Heart Association) and is the chairman of the scientific advisory board. He works hand in hand with the Guideline-Resuscitation program which is a recognized registry nationwide. Their main responsibility is to monitor and evaluate resuscitation procedures and processes of hospitalized victims after they suffer from cardiac arrest.