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Covid-19: Doctors are told not to perform CPR on patients in cardiac arrest

Healthcare staff in the West Midlands have been told not to start chest compressions or ventilation in patients who are in cardiac arrest if they have suspected or diagnosed covid-19 unless they are in the emergency department and staff are wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE).

The guidance from the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust says that patients in cardiac arrest outside the emergency department can be given defibrillator treatment if they have a “shockable” rhythm. But if this fails to restart the heart “further resuscitation is futile,” it says.

If a patient with suspected covid-19 is in cardiac arrest they should be given cardiac compressions and be ventilated only if they are in the emergency department and the person attending them is wearing aerosol generating procedures (AGP) PPE. That means wearing an FFP3 mask, full gown with long sleeves, gloves, and eye protection.

The advice rests on the premise that performing cardiac compressions risks virus particles being released into the air that could infect staff.

In an email to staff, Nick Crombie, associate medical director and trauma anaesthetist at the trust, acknowledged that there was unease about the new policy. But he …