• D O Arnar, S Gizurarson, and J Baldursson.
• Department of Emergency and Intensive Care, Landspitali University Hospital, Hringbraut, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland. davidar@landspitali.is.
• Laeknabladid. 2001 Oct 1; 87 (10): 777-80.

ObjectiveInitiation of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is directly linked to the outcome of cardiac arrest in the community. Recent reports have indicated a reluctance among witnesses to perform CPR on strangers especially mouth to mouth ventilation. The status of this in Iceland is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the attitude of Icelanders towards bystander CPR.Material And MethodsA telephone survey was conducted on 1200 randomly selected Icelanders, aged 16-75 years, with regard to their attitude towards pre-hospital CPR on strangers. A total of 804 (70.1%) chose to participate.ResultsA large number had received some kind of training in CPR (73%), wheras only 6% had actually participated in CPR. In accordance, 50% thought they would be able to perform chest compressions adequately and 55% mouth to mouth ventilation. A total of 491 (65%) would likely volunteer to perform chest compressions on a stranger, while 178 (24%) would not and 84 (11%) were undecided. Similarly, 473 (64%) would likely volunteer to perform mouth to mouth ventilation on a stranger. One hundred seventy seven (24%) would not and 93 (12%) were unsure. An overwhelming majority, 620 (81%) said it would not make any difference regarding their participation in CPR if the procedure was simplified and included only chest compressions but not mouth to mouth ventilation.ConclusionsIcelanders have a very positive attitude towards bystander CPR, over two thirds have had some kind of CPR instruction and a large majority has no aversion towards performing mouth to mouth ventilation on strangers. These results are in contrast to similar data from the United States.

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