Although the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) has been proven to be an incredibly valuable asset for Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) emergencies not all SCA is due to a shockable rhythm. According to a recent study about %75 of SCA is non-shockable. This means it does not respond to a shock. When the rhythm is non-shockable the survival rate is very low. With the guidelines that American Heart Association (AHA) has adopted since 2005 that focuses on more compression’s with less interruptions we have seen survival rate increase by approximately %45. This means we are saving more lives. With the 2010 guidelines that start with chest compression’s, CAB sequence, chest compression’s are started sooner. The CAB sequence is taught all levels, including Heartsaver(R), Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS). It will be interesting to see how this simple rearrangement of the sequence will affect survival. Go here for the full article
