Canada's emergency doctors push to improve rate of "bystander" CPR assistance

Canadians who suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital are three to four times more likely to survive if they receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). According to the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, such assistance is provided in only about one-quarter of cases. In a position statement on "bystander" CPR to be published in the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, CAEP says it is not acceptable that vast numbers of witnessed cardiac arrest victims do not receive bystander CPR. More than 20,000 people suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Canada each year, with 85 per cent of cases occurring in residential dwellings. Currently, less than 10 per cent of these people survive. Every Canadian should be trained in CPR and all Canadians should respond and provide chest compressions, with or without mouth-to-mouth ventilation, whether they are trained or not, CAEP says