In 2004, Tom Aufderheide and Keith Lurie conducted a study measuring the impact of hyperventilation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
This research was conducted through two studies: a clinical trial and a study involving pigs, and it was published in the journal Critical Care Medicine (https://journals.lww.com/ccmjournal/Abstract/2004/09001/Death_by_hyperventilation__A_common_and.2.aspx).
Although professional rescuers were trained to follow the AHA guidelines (12 breaths per minute), the average ventilation rate measured in adults experiencing cardiac arrest was 30 breaths per minute.
No patients survived.
The pig study demonstrated that hyperventilation reduced coronary perfusion and survival rates by more than 70%.
“Hyperventilation reduces the survival rate by 70%.”
