Resuscitation
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Compression force-depth relationship during out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Recent clinical studies reporting the high frequency of inadequate chest compression depth (<38 mm) during CPR, have prompted the question if adult human chest characteristics render it difficult to attain the recommended compression depth in certain patients. ⋯ In most out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims adequate chest compression depth can be achieved by a force<50 kg, indicating that an average sized and fit rescuer should be able to perform effective CPR in most adult patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Retention of skills in medical students following minimal theoretical instructions on semi and fully automated external defibrillators.
There is consent that the use of automated external defibrillators (AED) by laypersons improves survival rates in case of cardiac arrest, but no evident consensus exists on the content and duration of training for this purpose. Acceptance of the implementation of Public Access Defibrillation programmes will depend on practical and target-oriented training concepts. The aim of this prospective randomised interventional study was to evaluate long-term effects of a specific, minimal training programme on using semiautomatic and fully automatic AEDs in simulated cardiac arrest. ⋯ First year medical students with minimal instruction are able to use semiautomatic as well as fully automatic AED sufficiently fast and safe without prior training. A significant improvement in time to first shock can be detected up to 6 months after receiving non-specific instructions of 15 min duration.