Too Many Breaths During CPR Linked to Poor Outcome

A study has revealed that some ambulance crews giving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) exceeded the recommended breaths per minute, perhaps contributing to a poor outcome.

The recommended breaths per minute when treating cardiac arrest victims is 12-15 breaths per minute, according to the American Heart Association. Excessive ventilation may help to explain the low overall survival rate from cardiac arrest. The results of the study were reported in the April 6, 2004, online issue of Circulation.

The study involved 13 cardiac arrest victims. The average maximum ventilation rate was 37 breaths a minute, roughly 250-300% greater than the rate recommended. After a CPR retraining program was begun, the average ventilation rate for the next six patients dropped to 22 breaths per minute. One solution might be to use a system that flashes a light every five seconds to let a rescuer know when to deliver another breath of oxygen, suggested the researchers.

"Medical directors of all systems and all professional rescuers--including emergency medical technicians (EMTs), nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, and anyone else who would do CPR as part of their profession--need to get this message: do not hyperventilate,” said lead author Tom P. Aufderheide, M.D., professor of emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, USA).





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