Researchers who observed rescue crews performing CPR on heart attack victims found they regularly gave people significantly more breaths than called for by American Heart Association CPR standards.While the standards call for 12 to 15 breaths per minute, the EMS personnel were delivering on average 37 -- essentially causing their victims to hyperventilate. Even after personnel were retrained to follow the guidelines, they gave about 22 breaths per minute, still too many, report investigators, to maximize the potential for survival.
Researchers of the study say , “Medical directors of all systems -- all professional rescuers, including EMTs, nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists and anyone else who would do CPR as part of their profession -- need to get this message: Do not hyperventilate “ and they say that one solution to the problem, might be to use a timing device during CPR that would flash a light when it’s time for the rescuer to perform another breath.
