February, 2017 | USCPRonline

There has been much debate lately over the optimal amount of time to perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and whether or not the longer duration of CPR can increase survival rates. How long is CPR performed? How long should it be done and does the amount of time CPR is performed have any bearing on achieving spontaneous circulation or survival rates?

There are no clear-cut guidelines regarding how long CPR should be continued. The original thinking behind performing CPR suggested that prolonged CPR often resulted in permanent brain damage and, even if patients survived, they faced life-altering neurological issues as a result. On the contrary, a new study suggests that those who receive continued CPR and achieve spontaneous circulation managed as well as those who were resuscitated quickly. As a matter of fact, the study suggests CPR can keep blood circulating for up to 30 minutes without brain damage.

A randomized, controlled trial of 69 CPR providers in the United Kingdom recently showed the increased efficacy of using real-time feedback by way of an infant resuscitation manikin.

Resuscitation manikins are commonplace in many CPR training classes. In adult classes “Resuscitation Annie” has been used since 1960 and has helped an estimated 400 million learn CPR. She is fondly referred to as the “Mother of CPR.” In addition to the adult manikin, many training seminars utilize a child and infant manikin. Sometimes, the entire Resuscitation Family can be found on the site. More recently, the traditional Resuscitation Annie has been replaced with a high-tech, instant feedback manikin to help train providers.

Duration of CPR and Its Efficacy

Use of Infant Manikins During CPR Training Proven Highly Effective