Bystander CPR Is Significantly Effective in Pediatric Cases

Bystander CPR re-started the hearts of children in more than one out of 10 cases of out-of-hospital arrest, a study found.

According to researchers who jointly published in JAMA Pediatrics and are presenting findings at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2016 in New Orleans, LA, when it involves children or adolescents, CPR is significantly associated with survival.

Maryam Naim, MD, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and colleagues analyzed data from the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in children younger than 18 from January 2013 through December 2015.

Of those there were 3,900 children, more than 59% of them infants of whom 92.2% had nonshockable heart rhythms.

In 1,814 children who got CPR from a bystander, the survival was 11.3%, though only 9.1 % were likely to survive without neurological impairment.

The researchers also noted that white children were more likely to get CPR than black children.

It was important that the children get conventional CPR, not compression-only CPR. Outcomes were better with the former.

Efforts should be made to improve CPR rates in minority communities, they concluded.