Susan Tripp Pollard | Contra Costa Times | MCT

Jim Maddox, 53, shows his grandson Cory Delanoy, 9, the basics of CPR.

A crucial first-aid procedure is in the process of undergoing a major change.

Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine have found that training CPR rescuers simply in chest compressions may be more effective than incorporating mouth-to-mouth breathing into the routine.

According to a recent study, bystanders who witness a cardiac arrest and receive instructions from the emergency dispatcher to perform chest-compression-only CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) have a higher chance of saving the patient than they would if they had used the given instructions for standard CPR.

Dr. Peter Nagele, an anesthesiologist at the medical school, published results for his research with his colleagues in Vienna, Michael Hüpfl and Harald F. Selig, this past October.

The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, pooled data from three studies to include a total of 3,700 patients. The emergency dispatchers used a random process and either gave bystanders instructions to keep the victim’s blood circulating with continuous chest compressions or instructions to perform standard CPR, which inserts two rescue breaths between every 30 chest compressions.

“We found a little bit higher than a 20 percent increase in survival,” Nagele said. “You buy time.”

According to Nagele, sudden cardiac arrest most often is in the form of primary cardiac arrest, in which the heart stops. In this situation, there is sufficient oxygen in the body to circulate for approximately five minutes.

However, Nagele emphasized that compression-only CPR is not always the best solution. He recommends standard CPR for secondary cardiac arrest, when an underlying condition, such as an asthma attack or drowning, has already depleted the body’s oxygen supply. Almost all cardiac arrests in children are due to secondary causes.

“There’s an entry level of CPR training that’s chest compression only, and I think you can teach someone over the phone how to do that…but I think for folks who have a higher chance of seeing patients in cardiac arrest, like lifeguards, police officers and firefighters, all of them should be trained in standard CPR,” Nagele said.

Additionally, chest-compression-only CPR will not help the patient indefinitely.

“It may be the best option for a few minutes, but then someone needs to do ventilations,” Nagele said.

Stephanie Higgins, the director of EST, said that performing CPR can be difficult for the average bystander.

“If you’re not used to it, you might have to stop and think about it,” Higgins said. “It might take you longer to do than the patient can afford when their blood is not circulating,”

Since bystanders immediately start CPR in approximately only a third of cardiac arrest events, chest-compression-only CPR encourages bystanders to intervene because the method is easy to remember and avoids direct mouth-to-mouth contact.

“Instead of doing nothing, please just do chest compressions,” Nagele said. “That is a huge benefit. You have the five golden minutes after cardiac arrest. If someone does high quality chest compressions, you can really save someone with minimal or no brain damage. If you do nothing, chances are slim.”

Many students, however, have never had CPR training. EST offers a course for students and the general public twice a semester for $40. Students can contact [email protected] for more information.