New Guidelines for CPR

The American Heart Association unveiled the first international recommendations for treating cardiovascular care emergencies, "The International CPR and ECC Guidelines 2000".

Dr. Paul Pepe, spokesperson for the National American Heart Association and professor and chairman of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, talked to us about the new guidelines.

The new guidelines changed how the public and medical professionals provide emergency rescue to victims of sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack and stroke.

The changes in CPR guidelines are aimed at simplifying training and improving student retention of the process by focusing on the most effective aspects of resuscitation, allowing more people to get to the hospital alive. It was determined that the retention of certain basic CPR skills was impeded by trying to teach too much in short courses. The average CPR course is three hours. The changes in CPR guidelines mean that individuals who have been previously trained in CPR will need to be re-trained in the new guidelines when their current certification expires. The last time the association issued guidelines was in 1992 and the new CPR and advanced training material will be available for use by next summer.

Dr. Pete is also one of the international scientific experts who helped to develop, write and edit the new guidelines. Dr. Pepe was also the chair of the scientific panel that specifically looked at the actions to be taken by bystanders witnessing cardiac arrest at the scene, including drowning, choking, electrical shock and other conditions that may require CPR.
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