Updates to Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) guidance for practice.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (including chest compressions and ventilations) is a critical intervention to save lives – without which many thousands of lives will be lost each year.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, RCUK regularly reviews its guidance based on published evidence, seeking to balance the delivery of high-quality treatment to patients whilst maintaining staff/rescuer safety.
Recently published evidence suggests that COVID-19 is predominantly transmitted via the aerosol route as opposed to direct contact and via fomites. With this in mind, we have amended our guidance for health care staff to prioritise protection against the aerosol route of transmission.
The risk associated with COVID-19 has decreased because the majority of the population have been immunised, and more effective treatments and less virulent strains of COVID-19 are prevalent. Widespread community testing programmes have stopped, making it less likely that members of the public will know if someone has COVID-19.
New evidence has emerged suggesting a low likelihood that airway management manoeuvres are aerosol generating, leading to the removal of airway management manoeuvres from the list of aerosol generating procedures (AGP).
We await further evidence on whether chest compressions generate aerosol. Until such evidence emerges we remain concerned that the provision of chest compressions and the proximity of the rescuer to the patient may constitute a risk of aerosol transmission.
In light of this new information we recommend:
We will update our life support course materials in line with the above amended recommendations.
This guidance is intended to be used by Trust Resuscitation Committees and similar governance bodies to inform updated clinical practice.
