Estimation of CPR Chest Compression Depth

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Status: Completed

Conditions: Cardiac Arrest

Treatments: Behavioral: Compression depth

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03230461

19575

Details and patient eligibility

About

Optimal chest compression depth during CPR is 4.56cm which is at variance with the current guidelines of 5.0-6.0cm. A change in guidelines is only worthwhile if healthcare professionals can accurately judge a subtle reduction in chest compression depth during CPR by a relatively small amount.

Full description

Chest compression depth and rate during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are important predictors of return of spontaneous circulation and survival following cardiac arrest. Stiell et al (2014) found optimal survival at a compression depth of 4.56cm, which is at variance with the current guidelines of 5.0-6.0cm. A change in guidelines is only likely to improve survival rates if healthcare professionals can accurately implement these subtle depth modifications into the basic life support (BLS) algorithm. This study aims to determine if healthcare professionals can accurately judge compression depth without real-time feedback.

Enrollment: 100 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• NHS professionals (staff or students), who have successfully completed a hospital-accredited basic life support (BLS) course, including a practical CPR component.

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnancy, significant medical illness or injury that would impair delivery of chest compressions

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Sequential Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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100 participants in 3 patient groups

Target compression depth 4.0-5.0 cm

Experimental group

Description:

The rescuer is asked to perform two minutes of chest compressions on a manikin, aiming to compress to the target depth at a rate of 100-120/min

Treatment:

Behavioral: Compression depth

Target compression depth 4.5-5.5 cm

Experimental group

Description:

The rescuer is asked to perform two minutes of chest compressions on a manikin, aiming to compress to the target depth at a rate of 100-120/min

Treatment:

Behavioral: Compression depth

Target compression depth 5.0-6.0 cm

Experimental group

Description:

The rescuer is asked to perform two minutes of chest compressions on a manikin, aiming to compress to the target depth at a rate of 100-120/min

Treatment:

Behavioral: Compression depth