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

Abstract

Since the first standards and guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) were published 30 years ago¹ (with the latest update in 2000^2,3) health care professionals in and out of the hospital have been trained accordingly around the world. The importance of CPR, defined as chest compressions and ventilation, for survival of cardiac arrest patients has been demonstrated,⁴ and there are indications that the quality of CPR performance influences the outcome.^5-7