UA Offers CPR Training for EMS Professionals
The University recently held its first training session in a collaborative project called "High Performance CPR University."

UA Health Sciences
Oct. 13, 2015

CPR University 2015-2.jpg

UA research shows that the use of the chest compression-only CPR triples survival rates.
UA research shows that the use of the chest compression-only CPR triples survival rates.


Every day, more than 15 people in Arizona suffer sudden cardiac arrest outside the hospital. The University of Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center has made strides in saving those lives by translating basic science advancements in cardiopulmonary resuscitation research into action by emergency care providers.

Research discoveries have led to important changes in national CPR standards, and there is a need to educate every emergency medical services provider and in-hospital medical professional on new techniques.

In response, the UA recently held its first training session, part of a collaborative project called "High Performance CPR University," in the Center for Simulation and Innovation at the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Emergency medical services personnel from across the nation, as well as Japan and Taiwan, took part in the first of many planned high-fidelity training sessions.

Industry partners in the effort include ZOLL Medical Corp. of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and Laerdal Medical of Stavanger, Norway, which supplied advanced cardiac equipment and new-generation mannequins with the ability to give providers real-time audiovisual feedback during CPR to improve performance and outcomes.

"CPR performance is what saves lives from cardiac arrest, and during the past decade we have had a wonderful partnership in our ongoing mission to implement High Performance CPR and save as many lives as possible from cardiac arrest," said Dr. Ben Bobrow, UA professor of emergency medicine and co-director of the research center in Phoenix. "We are incredibly grateful to ZOLL Medical and Laerdal Medical for having the long-term vision to help us push the limits on how many cardiac arrest victims we can return to their homes and families."

"We are extremely fortunate that we have an outstanding facility in which to move forward this important work," said Dr. Sam Keim, director of the UA Emergency Medicine Research Center. "We know this kind of initiative is nearly impossible without the resources we have in the Center for Simulation and Innovation on the Phoenix campus."

"ZOLL Medical is committed to using state-of-the-art technologies to improve CPR performance in all settings," said Jonathan A. Rennert, president of the company. "We are proud to partner with the University of Arizona in our combined goal to effectively implement lifesaving treatments for a leading cause of death, cardiac arrest."

UA research shows the use of the chest compression-only CPR triples survival rates, and this summer the Institute of Medicine further endorsed the technique in a series of recommendations developed by a national panel of medical experts, including UA faculty members.

"With this kind of support, we can expand our efforts and train many more emergency medical professionals on the most effective resuscitation techniques," said Dr. Dan Spaite, professor of emergency medicine and co-director of the UA research center in Phoenix.

"Performance, not protocol, is what saves lives from cardiac arrest. The goal of this effort is to provide not just the knowledge, but the implementation tools to create High Performance CPR programs across Arizona and around the world," said Bobrow, who also is the medical director of the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System for the Arizona Department of Health Services. "The high-fidelity simulation training focuses on the psychomotor skills required to deliver and measure High Performance CPR in teams and how to make this a priority for health care systems."

Part of the latest effort by Bobrow's team is to focus on effectively delivering the correct rate, depth and chest wall release during CPR, along with appropriate ventilation, patient monitoring and measuring this intervention to assure it is optimized.

"We used to think 'CPR was CPR,' but we now know that for CPR to save the most lives it must be done exquisitely well and that is really challenging for multiple reasons," Keim said.

"This type of realistic simulation training may not be glorious, but it is actually what saves lives," Spaite said.

The first training project was held in partnership with UA researchers, the Arizona Department of Health Services Save Hearts in Arizona Registry and Education program, ZOLL Medical and Laerdal Medical. For more information, visit http://www.Azshare.gov.

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