New CPR Guidelines

AHA issues new guidelines for CPR.
The AP (10/18, Stengle) reports, "New guidelines" released on Monday by the American Heart Association "switch up the steps for CPR, telling rescuers to start with hard, fast chest presses before giving mouth-to-mouth." The "change ditches the old ABC training -- airway-breathing-compressions. That called for rescuers to give two breaths first, then alternate with 30 presses." One of the authors of the guidelines, Dr. Michael Sayre, "said that approach took time and delayed chest presses, which keep the blood circulating."
AHA's "decision was driven by a growing body of research showing that bystanders are more likely to perform compression-only CPR on strangers and that it works better than conventional CPR," according to USA Today (10/18, Sternberg). Notably, "doctors say the AHA's change marks the end of the organization's advocacy of a practice believed for at least half a century to be essential for saving victims of cardiac arrest or heart attacks."