ER doctors: Need to improve CPR survival

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Ninety percent of U.S. emergency room doctors say resuscitation practices are not very effective, a survey indicates.

The survey, commissioned by the American College of Emergency Physicians, finds factors considered important to increasing survival rates by the doctors were bystander intervention, 88 percent; faster patient-to-doctor time, 77 percent; data collection and sharing, 73 percent; automated technologies, 66 percent, and real-time feedback on compressions, 65 percent.

"While we've made significant advances to improve resuscitation efforts, more needs to be done. The state of resuscitation survey offers valuable insights on how we can build upon already existing practices, including increasing public involvement and implementing technology to help save more lives," Dr. Nick Jouriles of ACEP says in a statement.

"The results clearly show that it is necessary for communities to encourage more CPR trainings, offer more access to a broader range of critical life-saving technologies and report sudden cardiac arrest cases more consistently."

The online survey, conducted by Saperstein Associates, Inc., included 1,056 questionnaires completed by ACEP members in selected membership sections. The study has a margin of error no greater than plus/minus 3.1 percentage points.