Recovery position makes it harder to spot breathing difficulty
Posted 16 June 2017 - 08:58
Putting patients in the recovery position after cardiac arrest may make it harder for doctors to spot signs of breathing difficulties, a small study has found
Putting patients in the recovery position after cardiac arrest may make it harder to detect breathing difficulties, a small study has found.
Spanish researchers recruited 59 students with an average age of 22 who had basic life-support training, and divided them into two groups.
The first received a refresher course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including the recovery position, and the other a modified cardiopulmonary resuscitation course using continuous head tilt and chin lift for unconscious and spontaneously breathing patients.
A simulation test to evaluate breathing assessment was performed a week later.
Head tilt technique
Only 14 of 27 in the recovery position
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