Response to Letter Regarding Articles, “Increasing Use of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation During Out-of-Hospital Ventricular Fibrillation Arrest: Survival Implications of Guideline Changes” and “Measuring Progress in Resuscitation: It’s Time for a Better Tool”

Abstract

John Stewart comments that recent Guideline changes aimed at increasing CPR should consider whether a manual or automated external defibrillator (AED) is used, since interruptions are more common with the AED, and that future studies should consider defibrillator type as a potential confounder. Science suggests that the ideal resuscitation is one where CPR is not interrupted for rhythm analysis, charge, or pulse checks. The benefit of AED achieved by decreasing the interval from collapse to defibrillation …