The report from the PULSE conference (Post-Resuscitative and Initial Utility in Life-Saving Efforts) says better resuscitation strategies could have a huge impact in the United States. More than 680 Americans die each day due to cardiac arrest, according to statistics from the American Heart Association.

We have an opportunity to prioritize a science that will lead immediately, I think, to saving many, many lives, not only in the United States, but worldwide, says Lance Becker, M.D., lead author of the report and a professor of clinical medicine in the emergency medicine section at the University of Chicago.

Resuscitation research focuses on investigating conditions that initiate, mediate and result when all of the bodys organs are deprived of oxygen. The PULSE report states that better methods are needed to lower the risk of injury and promptly restore cardiopulmonary (heart-lung) and cerebral (brain) function. The intent is to minimize tissue injury and maximize tissue and organ repair, the report says.

The recommendations evolved from a two-day conference held during the summer of 2000, during which a panel of resuscitation experts reviewed the status of resuscitation science and sought to chart a course to improve the science. Their recommendations:

Develop a National Center for Resuscitation Research, a multiple agency collaboration focusing on resuscitation science and related activities.

Implement programs that prioritize support for resuscitation research.

Establish a support system to promote and coordinate basic and clinical research in resuscitation.

Establish databases of clinical cases of resuscitation.

Prioritize new resuscitation strategies
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Contact: Carole Bullock
carole.bullock@heart.org
214-706-1279
American Heart Association
27-May-2002