Abstract
Background: International consensus guidelines now support the use of "chest compressions-only" cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instructions (CCOIs) by emergency medical dispatch (EMD) personnel providing telephone assistance to untrained bystanders at a cardiac arrest scene. These guidelines are based largely on evolving experimental data and a clinical trial conducted in one venue with distinct emergency medical services (EMS) system features. Accordingly, the Council of Standards for the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch was asked to adapt a modified telephone CPR protocol, and specifically one that could be applied more broadly to the spectrum of EMS systems. Methods: A group of international EMD specialists, researchers and professional association representatives analyzed available scientific data and considered variations in EMS systems, particularly those in Europe and North America. Results and conclusions: Several recommendations were established: (1) to avoid confusion, bystanders already providing CPR should continue those previously learned methods; (2) following a sudden collapse unlikely to be of respiratory etiology, CCOIs should be provided when the bystander is not CPR-trained, declining to perform mouth-to-mouth ventilation or unsure of actions to take; (3) following 4 min of CCOIs, ventilations can be provided, but, for now, only at a compression-ventilation ratio of 100:2 until EMS arrives; (4) until more data become available, dispatchers should follow existing compression-ventilation protocols for children and adult cases involving probable respiratory/trauma etiologies; (5) EMD CPR protocols should account for EMS system features and receive quality oversight and expert medical direction.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 203-210 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Resuscitation |
Volume | 65 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2005 |
Keywords
- 9-1-1 Systems
- Bystander CPR
- Cardiac arrest
- Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR
- Emergency medical dispatcher
- Emergency medical services, EMS
- Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
- Out-of hospital-CPR
- Pre-arrival instruction
- Sudden cardiac death
- Ventilation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Emergency Medicine
- Emergency
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine