Emergency medical technicians must now perform 15 minutes of continuous CPR on the scene rather than taking patients immediately to a hospital. Technicians also have been granted the authority to pronounce a patient dead on the scene.
The changes come in response to evidence that the first 15 minutes after cardiac arrest are the most important to successful resuscitation.
Reducing unnecessary hospital transport should also lower risks for emergency medical services with respect to transportation hazard and biohazard exposure, according to the report.
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