Bad News for AutoPulse

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Researchers have produced data supporting their decision to halt a study of automated CPR machines after preliminary results showed a lower survival rate for patients treated with the devices.

The study - led by Dr. Michael Sayre, an emergency physician at the Ohio State University Medical Center - tested the AutoPulse in ambulances in five cities, including Seattle. Researchers expected the machines, which fit over the chest and deliver a steady pulse, would outperform medical staff who can become inconsistent or exhausted when delivering CPR.

"It was just the opposite of what we would anticipate happening," Sayre said.

The study began in June 2004, and researchers intended to examine 1,850 patients - half using the AutoPulse and half using manual resuscitation.

But researchers halted the study when they found that only 6 percent of the 394 patients treated with the device survived. About 10 percent of the 373 patients manually treated survived.