Chest Compressions May Be Most Important Part of CPR (2/2)

The American Heart Association changed its guidelines for CPR chest presses in 2005. It said people should increase the number of chest presses from 15 to 30 for every two breaths given.

Gordon Ewy is a heart doctor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. He wrote a report that appeared with the study. Doctor Ewy thinks the CPR guidelines should be changed again. He said the heart association should remove rescue breaths from the guidelines.

He argues that more witnesses to cardiac arrests would provide treatment if rescue breaths are not a part of CPR. He says this would save lives. Studies show that many people do not want to perform mouth-to-mouth breathing on a stranger for fear of getting a disease.

Cardiac arrest kills more than 300000 people in the United States every year. The American Heart Association says about 95% of victims die before they get to a medical center.