Ultimate AHA CPR Guidelines

The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation also known as ILCOR is a worldwide forum for resuscitation organizations to work together and communicate on refining & developing CPR training and ECC guidelines. Members of ILCOR include: The American Heart Association (AHA) and other well known organizations form New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Africa.

Here are some of the latest guidelines from ILCOR related to CPR & cardiovascular care which is helpful for your CPR training.

Emergency dispatchers must provide CPR instructions to callers.

The latest guidelines emphasize quick identification of a viable cardiac arrest scenario and immediate CPR instructions. Dispatchers can assume if a person is unconscious and breathing abnormally or not breathing at all, that cardiac arrest is the cause. It is recommended that all 911 dispatchers being trained and prepared to recognize the signs of cardiac arrest and give instructions on CPR over the phone to the caller.

How deep and fast compression should be.

Studies have shown that CPR most commonly fails because compressions aren’t deep or fast enough. Guidelines by ILCOR tells us that there’s an upper limit where fast compressions sometimes reduce the return of spontaneous circulation. Similarly, there’s a limitation for the depth of compressions too.

Some other guidelines are as follows:

• Adult patients should be delivered compressions at rate of between 100 and 120 per minute.
• Depth should be between 5-6 centimeters or 2-2.4 inches (or 1/3 the depth of the chest for children and infants).
• After the occurrence of cardiac arrest, CPR should be delivered as soon as possible.

High-fidelity CPR training should also now provide feedback to students on the depth of their compressions. Nowadays, there are devices available that helps to evaluate compression depth when a rescuer is giving CPR to a patient. These devices can be used during CPR training and on real patients.

Chest recoil after every compression.

Rescuers should not put pressure on the chest for a split-second between one compression and the next. Not allowing for full recoil or leaning on the chest keeps the heart from fully refilling with blood.

New recommendations for CPR training.

ILCOR provides guidelines for CPR training of both lay rescuers & medical professionals. This involves the use of high-fidelity manikins for advanced life support training along with the use of CPR feedback devices to evaluate manual compressions. Guidelines also proposed that the two-year recertification time is very long & ACLS and BLS certifications should require more successive training. Though the certification is still remaining a 2-year certification, it is wise to brush up on your skills an knowledge because our retention rate begins to decay between 3-12 months.

The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation also tells us that self-instruction is also an effective method to learn CPR, and these opportunities should increase to improve the number of trained lay rescuers.

Much of these guidelines are relevant to healthcare professionals as well as lay rescuers, but there are some major updates that may affect the lay rescuer training in the coming years.