Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is one of the most common causes of death in western industrialized countries. More than 12,000 people in Austria suffer SCA every year. Survival is strongly influenced by bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and early defibrillation. The hospital discharge rate after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was 11% in 2011. The bystander CPR rate was 42%, and in only 4% of cases was an automatic defibrillator (AED) used by laypeople. CPR guidelines have emphasized the importance of Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) programs since 2001. To...

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In telephone-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (T-CPR), protocols are used to help the bystander via standardized instructions. However, the requested compression depth is rarely achieved. This study was designed to investigate the effect of intensified wording and/or repetitive target depth instructions on compression depth. Methods: In this investigator-blinded, randomized, 4- armed, factorial study, 32 volunteers were requested to perform 10 minutes of compression only- CPR on a manikin. Participants were randomized either to standard wording ("push down 5cm"),...

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