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The Leg-Heel vs the Standard Arm-Hand Method of External Cardiac Lompression

*Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Abstract

Twenty rescuers working in pairs performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a recording manikin using the standard arm-hand method of cardiac compression for 5 minutes. Their performance during this method was compared with their performance during 5 minutes of CPR utilizing the leg-heel method of cardiac compression. This method has recently been suggested as a reasonable alternative to compression by the arms and hands for rescuers who are too weak or tired to compress the chest adequately.

Manikin tapes were examined and compared for: percentage of misplaced compressions, inadequate compressions, excessive compressions, and inadequate ventilations; number of compressions done before tiring; compression rate; length of time taken for rescuers to change places; depth of compressions; and variability in compression depth. Subjects were divided into light and heavy weight groups in order to compare these parameters using the two different compression methods.

No significant differences were found between the two methods in any of the parameters examined except in percentage of misplaced compressions, where in the heavy group there were significantly less misplaced compressions with the leg-heel method (p < 0.05).

The leg-heel method of cardiac compression may be useful for the very light or fatigued rescuer during two-person CPR. It is not applicable to one-person CPR and in this study did not seem to offer any advantage to rescuers weighing 50 kg or more.

Key Words: Heart: massage

Anesthesia & Analgesia® is published for the International Anesthesia Research Society® by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins with the assistance of Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press®. Copyright 2006 by the International Anesthesia Research Society. Online ISSN: 1526-7598   Print ISSN: 0003-2999