Articles-Thought Leadership Improving Resuscitation throughout the Care Contin | Page 2

It’s beyond just getting that CPR card. It’s about really having
your staff provide quality CPR that saves lives, and organizations
are starting to make the connection between that and the
quality of the training they provide.”
Why is improving resuscitation so important for the
care continuum? It’s no secret that resuscitation rates
are grim across the spectrum of healthcare. Outside of
acute-care settings, they range from a shocking 2 to 11
percent, which is much more dire even than that in
hospitals, where survival rates still range from a paltry
18 to 24 percent. Even when a victim does survive,
nearly one in two will have newly developed
impairments as a result of cardiac arrest. Organizations
across the care continuum, including those in acute,
post-acute, ambulatory, and health and human services
are challenged to improve resuscitation rates while also
maintaining patient functionality afterwards.
Strengthening CPR Training
The effort to strengthen resuscitation rates is occurring
worldwide—one factor consistently illuminated as key
to improvement is training. When asked about
improving outcomes, Haynes responded, “The overall
improvement is slowly happening because organizations
are seeing the need to improve. It’s beyond just getting
that CPR card. It’s about really having your staff provide
quality CPR that saves lives, and organizations are
starting to make the connection between that and the
quality of the training they provide.”
Haynes saw that survival rates were linked to the type of
training that students receive. “Organizations need to ask
themselves, are their students receiving objective or
subjective training?” she said. “Are they sitting in a
classroom setting or running a mock code in a realistic or
actual setting with a manikin? The hope is that students
receive objective feedback which will help them improve
their recall of that training in a real situation.”
Challenges for Resuscitation Across the
Care Continuum
It is important to understand that the continuum of care
encompasses a vast array of settings, including home
health, hospice, ambulatory surgery centers, dialysis
centers, behavioral health facilities, long-term care,
assisted living facilities, community clinics, and more.
Care varies widely across the continuum from a
traditional hospital environment, and these settings face
unique challenges, including:
Where Do CPR Guidelines Come From? ILCOR
Resuscitation councils from around the world review the science and literature that support international resuscitation treatment
recommendations. These councils are made of members like the American Red Cross, which has the largest training network in
the country and trains over 5 million people annually in resuscitation. They and similar members use their extensive history in
providing relief to those in crisis to prepare individuals to respond in emergencies using the latest science-based techniques.
The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) reviews the evidence that has been compiled and develops a
consensus on science with treatment recommendations known as the COSTR. The COSTR is then used by global educational
organizations as the scientific basis for the courses they develop. According to Haynes, “ILCOR hopes to guide a
transformational change that will improve resuscitation outcomes internationally. They want to fill the gap between existing
science surrounding resuscitation and future possibilities.”
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