Quality of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation During Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

To measure the quality of out-of-hospital CPR performed by ambulance personnel, as measured by adherence to CPR guidelines. DESIGN AND SETTING: Case series of 176 adult patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest treated by paramedics and nurse anesthetists in Stockholm, Sweden, London, England, and Akershus, Norway, between March 2002 and October 2003. The defibrillators recorded chest compressions via a sternal pad fitted with an accelerometer and ventilations by changes in thoracic impedance between the defibrillator pads, in addition to standard event and electrocardiographic recordings. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Adherence to international guidelines for CPR.

Chest compressions were not given 48% (95% CI, 45%-51%) of the time without spontaneous circulation; this percentage was 38% (95% CI, 36%-41%) when subtracting the time necessary for electrocardiographic analysis and defibrillation. Combining these data with a mean compression rate of 121/min (95% CI, 118-124/min) when compressions were given resulted in a mean compression rate of 64/min (95% CI, 61-67/min). Mean compression depth was 34 mm (95% CI, 33-35 mm), 28% (95% CI, 24%-32%) of the compressions had a depth of 38 mm to 51 mm (guidelines recommendation), and the compression part of the duty cycle was 42% (95% CI, 41%-42%). A mean of 11 (95% CI, 11-12) ventilations were given per minute. Sixty-one patients (35%) had return of spontaneous circulation, and 5 of 6 patients discharged alive from the hospital had normal neurological outcomes.