CPR, otherwise known as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is an emergency procedure used on individuals suffering from cardiac arrest or some form of respiratory arrest.
CPR is more commonly performed in hospitals, but physicians, paramedics and first aid trained members of the public often perform it in the field.
The overall goal of CPR is to physically intervene and create artificial circulation in the body by rhythmically pressing on the chest of an individual suffering from a cardiac or respiratory arrest in order to manually pump blood to the heart.
CPR will also inflate the lungs and force oxygen into the blood.
Unfortunately, the odds of surviving a cardiac arrest in a hospital via CPR are fairly low and it is one of the few areas in medical study that have failed to make any significant advances in the last decade.
According to a recent study put out by Medicare, conducted by researchers at the University of Washington-Seattle and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the lack of progress is troubling.
How effective is CPR? The rates of effectiveness of CPR, in conjunction with electric defibrillators, have definitely increased the chance of survival when performed by non-medical professionals, but for some reason, the rate of success in hospitals has not kept pace.
One researcher involved in the study, Paul S.
Chan of the St.
Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, found that in one of three cases, individuals suffering from cardiac arrest in a hospital failed to receive a defibrillator shock within the recommended time window of two minutes after the onset of cardiac arrest.
Also discovered was that most hospital staff actually failed to apply the CPR chest compression at the necessary rate of 100 per minute, or were performing them inadequately, effectively resulting in no beneficial effects whatsoever.
The study achieved its results by reviewing the medical records of close to 444,000 Medicare patients across the United States - all were treated for cardiac arrest between 1992 and 2005.
The study found that the rate of cardiac arrest survival in hospitals hovered at a steady 18 percent over the entire time period.
According to Dr.
Gerald Buckberg of the University of California-Los Angeles Medical Center, doctors have become so accustomed to the failure rates that they accept them.
According to Buckberg, "We should not accept this level of failure.
" Setting Standards No one is exactly sure why precise standards are maintained out in the field, but are not similarly maintained in the hospital setting.
Research suggests that hospitals have begun accepting the low numbers as nothing more than inevitable rather than pushing themselves to save more lives.
While the evidence is far from conclusive, it points to a level of complacency that is fairly alarming not only to physicians, but to every individual who might be at risk of suffering a cardiac arrest at some time in the future.
Hopefully, the study will spark more results and force hospitals to take a closer look at regulating proper CPR procedures with patients who suffer from cardiac arrest while visiting the hospital.
When performed properly, CPR is one of the most effective ways to treat cardiac arrest.
CPR is more commonly performed in hospitals, but physicians, paramedics and first aid trained members of the public often perform it in the field.
The overall goal of CPR is to physically intervene and create artificial circulation in the body by rhythmically pressing on the chest of an individual suffering from a cardiac or respiratory arrest in order to manually pump blood to the heart.
CPR will also inflate the lungs and force oxygen into the blood.
Unfortunately, the odds of surviving a cardiac arrest in a hospital via CPR are fairly low and it is one of the few areas in medical study that have failed to make any significant advances in the last decade.
According to a recent study put out by Medicare, conducted by researchers at the University of Washington-Seattle and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the lack of progress is troubling.
How effective is CPR? The rates of effectiveness of CPR, in conjunction with electric defibrillators, have definitely increased the chance of survival when performed by non-medical professionals, but for some reason, the rate of success in hospitals has not kept pace.
One researcher involved in the study, Paul S.
Chan of the St.
Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, found that in one of three cases, individuals suffering from cardiac arrest in a hospital failed to receive a defibrillator shock within the recommended time window of two minutes after the onset of cardiac arrest.
Also discovered was that most hospital staff actually failed to apply the CPR chest compression at the necessary rate of 100 per minute, or were performing them inadequately, effectively resulting in no beneficial effects whatsoever.
The study achieved its results by reviewing the medical records of close to 444,000 Medicare patients across the United States - all were treated for cardiac arrest between 1992 and 2005.
The study found that the rate of cardiac arrest survival in hospitals hovered at a steady 18 percent over the entire time period.
According to Dr.
Gerald Buckberg of the University of California-Los Angeles Medical Center, doctors have become so accustomed to the failure rates that they accept them.
According to Buckberg, "We should not accept this level of failure.
" Setting Standards No one is exactly sure why precise standards are maintained out in the field, but are not similarly maintained in the hospital setting.
Research suggests that hospitals have begun accepting the low numbers as nothing more than inevitable rather than pushing themselves to save more lives.
While the evidence is far from conclusive, it points to a level of complacency that is fairly alarming not only to physicians, but to every individual who might be at risk of suffering a cardiac arrest at some time in the future.
Hopefully, the study will spark more results and force hospitals to take a closer look at regulating proper CPR procedures with patients who suffer from cardiac arrest while visiting the hospital.
When performed properly, CPR is one of the most effective ways to treat cardiac arrest.