Hospital based cardiopulmonary resuscitation: it could be better.
The frequency and duration of interruptions of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) were evaluated in a hospital to determine whether or not CRP was being performed properly according to American Heart Association (AHA) standards. The frequency of interruptions were 0.41 per min. Interruptions of greater than 20 s duration occurred in 17.12% of all interruptions. Eighty percent of these interruptions of greater than 20 s duration were of unjustified duration. CPR education should reflect these unjustified deviations and their reasons in an attempt to limit such interruptions in future patient CPR.
D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit; D009731:Nursing Audit; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012151:Resuscitation / Q000592:standards*; D013997:Time Factors; D014922:Wisconsin