Standard CPR, consisting of 60 chest compressions per min with a ventilation interposed after every fifth compression, often allows restoration of spontaneous circulation but cannot be relied upon to preserve the brain during resuscitation attempts. In experimental models, it produces only one-third to one-half of normal cerebral blood flow and cannot sustain EEG activity. Many attempts have been made to augment overall cardiac output during CPR and presumably thereby increase cerebral blood flow. Crile used a pneumatic pressure suit to bind the abdomen and legs, but subsequent investigations found a high risk of hepatic trauma with abdominal binding. Both Wilder and Harris showed in dogs that simultaneous ventilation and compression augment carotid flow. Birch showed in an animal model that prolonged compression increased mean arterial pressure during CPR. Weisfeldt and colleagues of Baltimore have recently extended these findings to man, and combined them into a so-called “New” CPR, which consists of:

a) high pressure ventilation simultaneous with sternal compression;

b) 40 compressions per min;

c) 60% compression duration; and

d) abdominal binding.