In response to the overwhelming number of cases where CPR is performed incorrectly, the American Heart Association (AHA) has recently revised its guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and cardiac arrest published in the August 22nd issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Studies show that people who perform CPR are inaccurate about the presence of a pulse in 35 percent of CPR attempts. This miscalculation has contributed to the low percentage of successful CPR attempts. Among the estimated 225,000 cases of sudden cardiac arrest that occur outside of a hospital setting in the U.S., only 5 percent of people survive.

In the new guidelines, AHA advises to check for normal breathing, movement, and response to touch or questions to determine if CPR is necessary, instead of checking for the presence of a pulse. Additionally, while the old guidelines varied the ratio of chest compressions and breaths to the number of CPR rescuers, the new guidelines suggest rescuers perform 15 chest compressions for every two breaths, no matter how many rescuers are present.

AHA also recommended using external defibrillators, portable computer devices that detect when the heart has stopped and deliver a jolt of electricity to resuscitate the heart.

When CPR is followed by external defibrillators within a few minutes of cardiac arrest, survival rates have improved up to 50 percent, although each minute of delay reduces the chance of survival by 7 to 10 percent.