CPR quality improvement during in-hospital cardiac arrest using a real-time audiovisual feedback system.
BACKGROUND
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) quality during actual cardiac arrest has been found to be deficient in several recent investigations. We hypothesized that real-time feedback during CPR would improve the performance of chest compressions and ventilations during in-hospital cardiac arrest.


METHODS
An investigational monitor/defibrillator with CPR-sensing and feedback capabilities was used during in-hospital cardiac arrests from December 2004 to December 2005. Chest compression and ventilation characteristics were recorded and quantified for the first 5 min of resuscitation and compared to a baseline cohort of arrest episodes without feedback, from December 2002 to April 2004.


RESULTS
Data from 55 resuscitation episodes in the baseline pre-intervention group were compared to 101 resuscitations in the feedback intervention group. There was a trend toward improvement in the mean values of CPR variables in the feedback group with a statistically significant narrowing of CPR variable distributions including chest compression rate (104+/-18 to 100+/-13 min(-1); test of means, p=0.16; test of variance, p=0.003) and ventilation rate (20+/-10 to 18+/-8 min(-1); test of means, p=0.12; test of variance, p=0.04). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in either return of spontaneous circulation or survival to hospital discharge.


CONCLUSIONS
Real-time CPR-sensing and feedback technology modestly improved the quality of CPR during in-hospital cardiac arrest, and may serve as a useful adjunct for rescuers during resuscitation efforts. However, feedback specifics should be optimized for maximal benefit and additional studies will be required to assess whether gains in CPR quality translate to improvements in survival.
Abella
Benjamin S
BS
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. benjamin.abella@uphs.upenn.edu
Edelson
Dana P
DP
Kim
Salem
S
Retzer
Elizabeth
E
Myklebust
Helge
H
Barry
Anne M
AM
O'Hearn
Nicholas
N
Hoek
Terry L Vanden
TL
Becker
Lance B
LB
D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000592:standards*; D047548:Defibrillators; D004554:Electric Countershock; D004867:Equipment Design; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care