Cardiac Arrest Survival Rate Can Be Increased From 0 To 40% With New ECPR Protocol

The partnership between the Columbus Division of Fire and Columbus-based The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center has led to the development of a new CPR protocol. According to the latest reports, the new CPR protocol effort can increase the survival rate of cardiac arrest patients from 0 to around 40%.

How Does The Protocol Work?

The protocol termed extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation is personally initiated by the EMC personnel in the case it becomes impossible to restore the normal rhythm of the patient after he has been given the shock treatment to the heart for three times. In such a situation, the emergency personnel first alerts the hospital so that the patient is connected to a device that can automatically deliver CPR. In this way, the function of the brain and other organs are preserved while the patient is being taken to the hospital.

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With this new protocol, while the patient is on the way to the healthcare center he is in connection with the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine located in the heart catheterization lab of a hospital. So through this protocol, the patient bypass the emergency room and his lungs and heart are allowed to rest as the physicians continue performing heart catheterization.

Speaking on this latest development, a cardiologist and assistant professor of internal medicine at OSU Wexner, K. Dean Boudoulas, MD said that it is astounding that patients can fully recover as well as walk out of the hospital when they could have been declared dead before this protocol was existent.