[/floatr]AHN: Study Challenges Mouth-To-Mouth Portion Of CPR
Leaving out the the mouth-to-mouth part of Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can significantly increase the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest without brain damage, a new Japanese study suggests. For decades, the medical advisors have asked people to administer 15 -30 chest compressions followed by two mouth-to-mouth ventilations. However, new guidelines published Friday in the journal the Lancet says that if we drop the step of blowing into person's mouth we might be able to save precious time that could instead be utilized in chest compressions and keep blood circulating to the heart and brain...[A] study of 4,000 cardiac arrest patients in Japan concluded that those who received cardiac-only resuscitation, where someone pushed on their chests but did no mouth-to-mouth, were more likely to survive than those who received standard CPR. The study also found that the compression-only resuscitation yielded better results in patients with the best chance of surviving. Experts are now recommending the cardiac-only resuscitation as the "preferable approach" for adults who collapse from cardiac arrest.
