Notes from the Resuscitation Science Symposium

[Guest guest]

Here is an interesting abstract presented a couple of weeks ago at

the Resuscitation Science Symposium in New Orleans. . .

Researchers reviewed data from 203 cardiac arrest patients treated

with the Zoll AED Plus device. Most of the victims were male (70%).

Current CPR guidelines stress the importance of beginning CPR as

quickly as possible after identifying the arrest. After placing the

defibrillation pads on the patient's chest, rescuers delayed

initiation of CPR for an overall average of 13 seconds. However,

females waited significantly longer than 13 seconds much more often

than males (65% vs. 45%, p<0.0001).

We have all been taught that the proper compression depth for adults

is between one and a-half and two inches. Before the first

countershock, females were significantly more likely to receive

shallow chest compressions compared to males (68% vs. 45%, p=0.002).

After the first countershock, compressions became more forceful

overall but females were still more likely to receive shallow chest

compressions compared to males (58% vs. 47%, p=0.07) but the

differences were no longer considered significant.

Finally, recent research suggests that in order to optimize the

success of a defibrillation attempt, the interval from when the chest

compressor stops pushing until the AED operator delivers the shock

should be less than ten seconds (the hands-off interval). In this

study, the overall average hands-off interval was 23 seconds.

Females waited longer than 23 seconds (without chest compressions)

much more often than males (61% vs. 46%, p=0.009) for delivery of the

shock.

It appears that a gender bias may also exist in resuscitation.

Kenny Navarro

Dallas

Kemeny, A., Silver, A., Quan W., Freeman, G., & Babbs, C. (2008,

November). Differences in chest compressions provided to male and

female victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. [Abstract].

Presented at the Resuscitation Science Symposium, New Orleans,

Louisiana.