New CPR Guidelines

Instead of two breaths for every 15 chest pumps, the new guidelines call for two breaths for every 30 chest compressions.

For children, the ratio changes from one breath for every five chest compressions to two breaths for every 30 compressions.

A single rescuer should give 30 chest compressions, then two breaths to all adults, children and infants needing CPR, according to the new guidelines.

In all, 100 chest compressions should be given every minute. That figure hasn't changed from the guidelines published in 2000.

According to Dr. Michael Schuster of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, "these changes are designed to make CPR more effective and easier to remember and perform.

The foundation studies showed blood circulation dropped when compressions were interrupted, and time was being wasted after each interruption.

Studies show that the chest compressions create more blood flow through the heart to the rest of the body, buying time until a defibrillator can be used or the heart can pump blood on its own.

Studies have also shown that blood circulation increases with each chest compression and must be built back up after an interruption.

The guidelines recommend rescuers minimize interruptions and "push hard and push fast" when giving chest compressions.

In the U.S., it's estimated that more than 95 per cent of cardiac arrest victims die before they get to the hospital.

Bystanders who perform CPR should focus on chest compressions, not mouth-to-mouth breathing, new international guidelines say.

The guidelines were released Monday by the American Heart Association and are published online in the new issue of the journal Circulation.

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