Head on over to Emcrit to read Rory Spiegel’s take on mechanical CPR. I’m fairly sure Rory has been reading the sporadic ranting of a certain paramedic on this topic, hence his brilliant, insightful work. I’ll let him have his moment though 😉
The key to mCPR being useful is selecting the right patient who can benefit from other therapies (and being good at applying it). Some patients should not be resuscitated; some patients should; and some, who fail an initial trial of human CPR (hCPR), should be considered for mCPR as a bridge to further treatment. Routine use of mCPR in the place of hCPR has routinely proven useless.
