FUTURE-DIRECTIONS FOR RESUSCITATION RESEARCH .2. EXTERNAL CARDIOPULMONARY-RESUSCITATION BASIC LIFE-SUPPORT

In sudden cardiac deaths outside hospitals, the present performance of external cardiopulmonary resuscitation-basic life support (CPR-BLS), as a bridge to advanced life support (ALS) attempts for restoration of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), still yields suboptimal results. Ther efore, future education research should develop more effective, simple r and quicker ways to enable everyone to acquire the necessary BLS ski lls. Individualized self-training by lay persons is being revived. Alt hough airway control and direct mouth-to-mouth ventilation skills are difficult to acquire, they must continue to be taught to the lay publi c and health professionals, primarily for use on relatives and friends where infection risk is not a problem, In children and trauma victims , steps A and B alone may be lifesavers, The best way to ventilate and oxygenate during the initiation of brief external CPR-BLS should be r e-evaluated. There is a great difference between animals and humans in the behavior of the airway and thorax during coma, and thus in the ne ed for added positive pressure ventilation, During chest compressions in humans, steps A and B are needed. Details deserve re-evaluation. Th e low perfusion pressures (borderline blood flows) produced by standar d external CPR remain the most serious limitation of this method. In s pite of extensive efforts so far, novel laboratory research to remedy this limitation is important for the development of more effective eme rgency artificial circulation. The results of such studies are greatly influenced by different details in animal models. Active compression- decompression (ACD) external CPR, also called 'push-pull' CPR, with a plunger-type device used by hand or a machine, and intermittent abdomi nal compression (IAC) external CPR are both promising modifications of standard external CPR. Both need further experimental and clinical cl arification. For BLS, developing a more effective purely manual CPR-BL S method for help in rapid ROSC should be given high priority. Portabl e external CPR machines need improvements. They will serve for bridgin g ROSC-resistant cases through transport and ALS attempts, primarily b y freeing the hands of health professionals for more effective sophist icated ALS measures.