11/07/2017
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (Heart & Stroke) together with the American Heart Association (AHA) published updated CPR Guidelines today in cooperation with the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR).
The changes represent small but important refinements that will improve survivability from cardiac arrest.
For this Focused Guidelines Update, there will be no changes to Heart & Stroke courses and no new materials are required.
The 2017 Focused Updates on Adult and Pediatric Basic Life Support and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Quality emphasize that more people will survive cardiac arrest if the following three recommendations are acted upon:
Update #1: Emergency dispatchers give chest compression-only CPR instructions over the phone
Update #2: Children (pre-pubescent) and infants should receive, at a minimum, chest compressions; however, rescue breaths should be provided if the bystander is willing and able
Update #3: Bystanders start immediate chest compressions if they see an adult collapse in a suspected cardiac arrest.
With these updates, ILCOR, Heart & Stroke and AHA are moving to a continuous evidence review and more frequent focused updates. Continuous evidence review allows the rigor of a comprehensive review and expert consensus in as close to real time as possible. Previously, Guidelines had been updated every five years.
As recommendations are changed or updated in the future, Heart & Stroke and the AHA will continue to assess how they can be implemented in training.
Instructors should note that the Heart & Stroke recommendations for EMS-delivered CPR have been updated and now provide more flexibility:
Instructors may allow students to practice synchronous or asynchronous ventilations during chest compressions in courses (BLS, ACLS, and ACLS EP) consistent with the student’s local protocol.
However, for testing purposes, instructors will continue to use the BLS skills testing checklist, which tests by using the 30:2 compression-to-ventilation ratio with pauses in chest compressions to give ventilations. Instructors must test students performing the skills test based on what is on the skills checklist.
With these new updates supported by Heart & Stroke, survivability from cardiac arrest will improve. Intervention works.
For more information, visit the Heart & Stroke Guidelines website: http://www.heartandstroke.ca/get-involved/learn-cpr