Induction of a shorter compression phase is correlated with a deeper chest compression during metronome-guided cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a manikin study

• Published in: Emergency medicine journal : EMJ Vol. 30; no. 7; pp. 551 - 554
• Main Authors: Chung, Tae Nyoung, Bae, Jinkun, Kim, Eui Chung, Cho, Yun Kyung, You, Je Sung, Choi, Sung Wook, Kim, Ok Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and the British Association for Accident & Emergency Medicine 01.07.2013; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: acute coronary syndrome; acute myocardial infarct; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation - education; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation - methods; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation - standards; clinical; clinical care; CPR; Cross-Over Studies; education; emergency ambulance systems; emergency care systems; emergency departments; Emergency Medical Services - methods; Emergency Medical Services - standards; Female; Hardware reviews; Heart Arrest - therapy; Heart attacks; Heart Massage - methods; Humans; Lifesaving; Male; Manikins; Patient Simulation; prognosis; Prospective Studies; resuscitation; Students, Medical - psychology; Time Factors; emergency care systems; acute coronary syndrome; acute myocardial infarct; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; clinical care; emergency ambulance systems, education; resuscitation; emergency departments; prognosis; research, clinical
• ISSN: 1472-0205; 1472-0213
• DOI: 10.1136/emermed-2012-201534

Objectives Recent studies have shown that there may be an interaction between duty cycle and other factors related to the quality of chest compression. Duty cycle represents the fraction of compression phase. We aimed to investigate the effect of shorter compression phase on average chest compression depth during metronome-guided cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Methods Senior medical students performed 12 sets of chest compressions following the guiding sounds, with three down-stroke patterns (normal, fast and very fast) and four rates (80, 100, 120 and 140 compressions/min) in random sequence. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare the average chest compression depth and duty cycle among the trials. Results The average chest compression depth increased and the duty cycle decreased in a linear fashion as the down-stroke pattern shifted from normal to very fast (p<0.001 for both). Linear increase of average chest compression depth following the increase of the rate of chest compression was observed only with normal down-stroke pattern (p=0.004). Conclusions Induction of a shorter compression phase is correlated with a deeper chest compression during metronome-guided cardiopulmonary resuscitation.