Guidelines for resuscitation 2005 - What is their effect, what is new?

Under coordination of the International Liason Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) for several years experts all over the world allocated resuscitation measures by their level of evidence, that would lead to improved survival after cardiac arrest. Derived from the "Consensus of Science" in 2005 the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) published the reedited guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The most important effect of the guideline changes is that external cardiac compressions can be performed for longer periods without interruptions. This has been possible since resuscitation measures that have not shown to improve survival now have to be done less frequently. Hereby it seems to be easier to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation more efficiently and structured. But it also had to be noticed that some changes, e.g. immediate continuation of external cardiac compressions following defibrillation, are more difficult to teach. New conclusions indicate that further guideline changes can be expected.