2010 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations

2010 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations  published in the latest issue of Circulation journal.(1)

The following is a summary of the most important evidence-based recommendations for the performance of basic life support in adults:

• Rescuers should begin CPR if the victim is unresponsive and not breathing (ignoring occasional gasps). Gasping should not prevent initiation of CPR because gasping is not normal breathing, and gasping is a sign of cardiac arrest.
• Following initial assessment, rescuers may begin CPR with chest compressions rather than opening the airway and delivering rescue breathing.
• All rescuers, trained or not, should provide chest compressions to victims of cardiac arrest.
• A strong emphasis on delivering high-quality chest compressions remains essential: rescuers should push hard to a depth of at least 2 inches (or 5 cm) at a rate of at least 100 compressions per minute, allow full chest recoil, and minimize interruptions in chest compressions.
• Rescuers trained to provide ventilations use a compression-ventilation ratio of 30:2.
• For untrained rescuers, EMS dispatchers should provide telephone instruction in chest compression–only CPR.

(1) http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/vol122/16_suppl_2/?etoc