BACKGROUND Blood pressure is severely reduced in patients in cardiac arrest receiving standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Although active compression-decompression (ACD) CPR improves acute hemodynamic parameters, arterial pressures remain suboptimal with this technique. We performed ACD CPR in patients with a new inspiratory threshold valve (ITV) to determine whether lowering intratho...

BACKGROUND Currently the American Red Cross requires that individuals renew their cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification annually; this often requires a 4- to 8-hour refresher course. Those trained in CPR often show a decrease in essential knowledge and skills within just a few months after training. New electronic means of communication have expanded the possibilities for delivering...

Challenged by the continued high mortality rates for patients in cardiac arrest, the American Heart Association and the European Resuscitation Council developed a new set of guidelines in 2000 to help advance several new and promising cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques and devices. This is the first time these organizations have taken such a bold move, in part because of the poor re...

Survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) varies across the developed world. Although not all OHCA are recoverable, the survival rate in Scotland is lower than in comparable countries, with higher average survival rates of 7.9% in England and 9% across Europe. The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers, facilitators and public attitudes to administering bystander cardiopulmo...

Despite efforts to save more people suffering from in-hospital cardiac arrest, rates of survival after in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are no better today than they were more than a decade ago. This study was undertaken to assess the demographics, clinical parameters and outcomes of patients undergoing CPR by the code blue team at our center during 2001 to 2008. Data were collec...

Interposed abdominal compression cardiopulmonary resuscitation (IAC-CPR) is an alternative technique to traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that can improve perfusion and lead to restoration of circulation in patients with chest wall deformity either acquired through vigorous CPR or co-morbidity such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We report a case of out-of-hospital cardi...

Several recent studies suggest that compression only CPR (CCPR) has similar or superior outcomes to the standard AHA guidelines CPR (S-CPR). However, it has been difficult to rigorously study the key metabolic and hemodynamic endpoints in the acute clinical environment. A systems analysis approach employing a mathematical model of human physiology (Guyton/Coleman/Summers model) was used to comp...

Interposed abdominal compression cardiopulmonary resuscitation, henceforth referred to as IAC-CPR, is an adjunct standard CPR (S-CPR) according American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines since 1992.

OBJECTIVES To investigate health practitioners' understanding and practice behaviours with regards to clinical prediction rules (CPRs) and explore their perceptions of adopting a new whiplash CPR. DESIGN Qualitative study using six semistructured focus groups. SETTING Primary and secondary care in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. PARTICIPANTS Physiotherapists (n=19), chiropracto...

Since C-peptide immunoreactivity (CPR) is excreted at a much higher rate than insulin in the urine, the urinary CPR (U-CPR) level could be a good measure of pancreatic B-cell function. In 10 normal subjects and 17 patients with non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), the 24-hour U-CPR level was 49.6 +/- 4.5 (mean +/- SE) micrograms, and 59.1 +/- 7.9 micrograms, respectively. When measu...