Changes to AHA Resuscitation Guidelines

Changes to the American Heart Association Resuscitation Guidelines were announced during the recent Emergency Cardiovascular Care Update Conference in San Diego. We reviewed these changes and here are a few of the highlights:

• Social Media In some communities is may be reasonable to use social media to summon rescuers who are in close proximity to the victim. According to a Swedish study, a mobile-phone dispatch system significantly increased the rate of bystander-initiated CPR.


• Community Lay Rescuer Programs—Public Access Defibrillation Program (PAD) is recommended for locations such as airports, casinos, sports facilities) where there is a likelihood of a witnessed cardiac arrest. There is no question that early use of an AED during Cardiac Arrest greatly improves survival. These four components must be present in a PAD Program.
  1. Planned practiced responses and access to AED’s
  2. Training of CPR and AED Responders
  3. Integrated link with EMS Personnel
  4. Quality Improvement Program
  Look for a future blog about setting up a PAD in your area.


• Chest Compression Depth and Rate Increased rate from 100 Compressions a minute to 120 compressions a minute. In addition, Depth has changed from at least 2 inches or 5 cm to between 2 and 2.4 inches or 5 to 6 cm.


• Naloxone in Opioid-Associated Life-Threatening Emergencies trained lay rescuers and BLS providers may administer Intramuscular or intranasal naloxone for patients with known opioid addiction who are unresponsive and have a pulse but do not appear to be breathing. The naloxone autoinjector was approved by the FDA in 2014 for use by lay rescuers and Health Care Providers.

For a complete list of the changes, click this link to the 2015 Guidelines downloadable in PDF and translated into 17 different languages.

Feel a refresher course in order? Register for a CPR, AED, or First Aid class near you!