• Aida Carballo-Fazanes, Roberto Barcala-Furelos, Juan Eiroa-Bermúdez, María Fernández-Méndez, Cristian Abelairas-Gómez, Santiago Martínez-Isasi, Manuel Murciano, Felipe Fernández-Méndez, and Antonio Rodríguez-Núñez.
• CLINURSID Research Group, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Santiago de Compostela's Health Research Institute (IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2020 Dec 1; 38 (12): 2580-2585.

AimTo analyse the effect of oxygen fraction reduction (O2 14%, equivalent to 3250 m) on Q-CPR and rescuers' physiological demands.MethodologyA quasi-experimental study was carried out in a sample of 9 Q-CPR proficient health care professionals. Participants, in teams of 2 people, performed 10 min CPR on a Laerdal ResusciAnne mannequin (30:2 compression/ventilation ratio and alternating roles between rescuers every 2 min) in two simulated settings: T21-CPR at sea level (FiO2 of 21%) and T14 - CPR at 3250 m altitude (FiO2 of 14%). Effort self-perception was rated from 0 (no effort) to 10 (maximum demand) points.ResultsQuality of chest compressions was good and similar in both conditions (T21 vs T14). However, the percentage of ventilations with adequate tidal volume was lower in altitude than at sea level conditions (35.9 ± 25.2% vs. 54.7 ± 23.2%, p = 0.035). The subjective perception of effort was significantly higher at simulated altitude (5 ± 2) than at sea level (3 ± 2) (p = 0.038). Maximum heart rate during the tests was similar in both conditions; however, mean oxygen saturation was significantly lower in altitude conditions (90.5 ± 2.5% vs. 99.3 ± 0.5%, p < 0.001).ConclusionAlthough performing CPR under simulated hypoxic altitude conditions significantly increases the physiological demands and subjective feeling of tiredness compared to sea level CPR, trained rescuers are able to deliver good Q-CPR in such conditions, at least in the first 10 min of resuscitation.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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