High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in emergency medicine is governed by five determinants of compression quality—rate, depth, continuity (chest compression fraction), chest wall recoil, and avoidance of hyperventilation—each affecting cardiac output through mechanisms tied to intrathoracic pressure and diastolic filling. Cardiac arrest management further depends on rapid rhythm assessment to distinguish shockable rhythms (ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia), which are treated with defibrillation to reorganize disorganized electrical activity, from non-shockable rhythms, where defibrillation provides no benefit and carries risk of inducing dysrhythmia. Time-sensitivity of defibrillation and the primacy of basic life support (CPR and early defibrillation) over advanced interventions are core organizing principles of resuscitation theory.
High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in emergency medicine is governed by five determinants of compression quality—rate, depth, continuity (chest compression fraction), chest wall recoil,…