Acquisition and Retention of Resuscitation Knowledge and Skills: What’s Practice Have to Do With It?

Approximately 209 000 in-hospital adult cardiopulmonary arrests occur each year in the United States.¹  In children, reported incidence is 1.8 cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) events per 100 admissions to the pediatric intensive care unit.¹  Most cardiopulmonary arrests occur in a critical care unit, the operating room, or the emergency department. Based on the American Heart Association’s “Get With the Guidelines” data, survival to discharge is estimated at 28% for neonates, 38% for children, and 26% for adults.¹  These statistics suggest that 2 to 3 out of 10 cardiac arrest victims survive and, thus, survival rates remain extremely low. Survival outcomes are directly related to a shorter time between cardiopulmonary arrest and first shock and initiation of high-quality CPR^2–4  consisting of compressions with 2- to 2.4-in (5-6 cm) depth for adults and 1.5-in (4 cm) depth for children, and ventilations with appropriate volume between 500 and...