Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialCPR before defibrillation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a randomized trial.
Current resuscitation guidelines recommend that defibrillation be undertaken as soon as possible in patients suffering a cardiac arrest where the cardiac rhythm is either ventricular fibrillation (VF) or ventricular tachycardia (VT). Evidence from animal and clinical studies suggests that outcomes may be improved if a period of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is given prior to defibrillation. The objective of this study was to determine if 90 seconds of CPR before defibrillation improved survival. ⋯ Ninety seconds of CPR before defibrillation does not improve overall survival in patients suffering VF/VT cardiac arrests. Further studies to evaluate various aspects of this treatment strategy are required as published outcomes to date are inconclusive.