ZOLL Medical Corporation, a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, has announced the top winners of the ZOLL CPR Challenge. The CPR Challenge took place in ZOLL’s booth during the 2006 Emergency Cardiovascular Care Update (ECCU) Conference this past June in Orlando, Fla.
The ZOLL CPR Challenge involved ECCU attendees performing two minutes of CPR on a 2005 AHA/ERC Guidelines-compliant ZOLL AED Plus or ZOLL AED Pro. ZOLL personnel evaluated CPR performance by measuring the attendees’ “Compressions In Target.” When a chest compression was done at the proper rate (i.e., between 80 to 110 compressions per minute) and the proper depth (i.e., 1 ½ to 2 inches), that compression was considered “in target,” meaning that it would be effective in helping to maintain blood flow to the brain and heart of a cardiac arrest victim. ZOLL estimates that more than 270 ECCU attendees, many who were CPR trainers, performed more than 54,000 chest compressions for approximately nine hours over the course of the conference.
After an attendee completed two minutes of CPR, data was immediately downloaded wirelessly (via an infrared port on the side of the AED) and evaluated on ZOLL Code Review software in real time so that ECCU attendees could see for themselves the following information:
– The complete ECG that acts as a timeline for the entire rescue event;
– A readout of the frequency and depth of their CPR chest compressions;
– Their percentage of “Compressions in Target”;
– A visual representation of all compressions in terms of depth and rate; and
– Data points showing when audible prompts (e.g., “Push Harder” or “Good Compressions”) were communicated to the rescuer.
This information allowed attendees to understand and evaluate how well they performed CPR. The three CPR trainers with the highest percentage of compressions in target were:
– Christine Woods from West Monroe, La., who had 99.5% of her CPR compressions in target;
– Scott Cyganiewicz from Conway, S.C., who had 99.01% of his CPR compressions in target; and
– Bonnie Holeton from Pecatonica, Ill., who also had 99.01% of her CPR compressions in target.
“This was the first time that I went directly from doing CPR to understanding how well I had performed it,” said Scott Cyganiewicz, EMT-P, Medical Training Officer at Horry County Fire Rescue. “There is real value in being able to have this level of detail, given 2005 AHA Guidelines recommendations. Such detail can have benefits not only for training purposes, but also for helping us meet mandated QA/QI requirements in South Carolina. Our current defibrillators only give us code summary information, but the kind of detailed information about CPR performance that I saw coming out of the ZOLL AEDs–literally minutes after performing CPR–is something that we need to move toward quickly.”
According to the 2005 AHA Guidelines,* evidence from two clinical studies shows that chest compression rates during unprompted CPR are frequently inadequate in both out-of-hospital and in-hospital settings. The Guidelines also noted data that showed the critical role of early, high-quality CPR in increasing cardiac arrest survival rates. Furthermore, additional data showed that few victims of cardiac arrest receive CPR and even fewer receive high-quality CPR. Such findings reinforce ZOLL’s efforts to incorporate instantaneous CPR support in its products. The AED Plus and the AED Pro now offer the ability to follow the newly recommended compression-to-ventilation ratio of 30 compressions to two breaths. Both devices also allow for one defibrillating shock, if needed, followed by a two-minute CPR interval. These enhancements are meant to help rescuers deliver high-quality, effective CPR by delivering more chest compressions while limiting interruptions.
ZOLL Medical Corporation develops technologies that help advance the practice of resuscitation. With products for pacing, defibrillation, circulation, ventilation, and fluid resuscitation, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies that help clinicians, EMS professionals, and lay rescuers resuscitate sudden cardiac arrest or trauma victims. ZOLL also designs and markets software that automates the documentation and management of both clinical and non-clinical information.
