No Improvements Seen in CPR Study

A study that was testing ways to improve the treatment of sudden cardiac arrest has found no benefit to the methods studied. As a result, no one new will be added to the study. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute announced the decision November 6. The institute was the lead sponsor of the study. In one part of the study, responders did cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for different amounts of time before assessing whether to use a defibrillator. This is a machine that can restart the heart. Another part of the study tried out a device to maintain pressure in the chest while doing CPR. The study included more than 11,500 people. None of the methods studied caused a change in survival rates.