The latest research, published in JAMA, shows that there is no evidence of improved outcome in device-assisted CPRs. From the press office at Ohio State University Medical Center:
The randomized study, conducted in five North American cities including Columbus, showed that victims of sudden cardiac arrest were more likely to be discharged alive from the hospital if they received manual cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) rather than CPR administered by the mechanical device…
The study involved 1,071 people who experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Columbus, Seattle, Pittsburgh, and Vancouver and Calgary, Canada. The study, originally planned to last 12-18 months, was halted in March 2005, nine months after it began, when it became apparent that the study device was not improving long-term outcomes…
In a controlled laboratory setting, the device produced greater blood flow to the heart and brain than manual CPR. But when deployed in real-life emergencies, as provided in the study, researchers found that patients were less likely to survive if they received compressions from the device. In the AutoPulse group, survival to discharge from the hospital was 5.8 percent, while survival to discharge in the manual group was 9.9 percent.
Flashback: AutoPulse Resuscitation System