These guidelines summarize the decisions discussed in several national scientific publications.

These guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR[1]) and emergency cardiovascular care (ECC[2]) are based on the scientific evidence we have been able to gather and the recommendations resulting from the most recent evaluations of evidence from the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR[3]).

These guidelines will provide a summary of the recommendations in the official document written by the major organizations. These guidelines form the basis for clinical and pharmacological practice education programs applicable in Canada.

The guidelines for CPR and ECC are based on the ongoing international evidence from ILCOR. The ILCOR evaluation process involves hundreds of international resuscitation scientists and experts who evaluate, discuss and debate thousands of peer-reviewed publications. In this process, ILCOR working groups prioritize topics for review with input from resuscitation. Once a topic is approved for evaluation, a systematic review is commissioned and conducted by a knowledge synthesis unit or systematic reviewer, with input from ILCOR content experts. Once the systematic review is completed, ILCOR working groups review the evidence and develop a draft Consensus on Scientific Recommendations with Treatment (CoSTR[4] ) that is posted online for public comment: https://costr.ilcor.org/document

[1] CPR : Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

[2] ECC : Emergency Cardiovascular Care

[3] ILCOR : International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation

[4] CoSTR : Consensus on Science with Treatment Recommendations

These guidelines summarize the decisions discussed in several national scientific publications. They address the most recent published evidence reviewed by the scientific experts of the First Aid Working Group.

These guidelines have been developed to focus on the science and rationale for recommendations that will lead to changes in first aid training and practice.

The First Aid Working Group of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR[1] ) is composed of members from around the world. Each of these members has been nominated by each of the ILCOR member organizations. This working group first agreed on the objectives of first aid and produced a definition of first aid as it might apply to the international context. Members of the working group felt that an agreed-upon definition was essential for the further development of research questions, evaluation of evidence and treatment recommendations.

The ILCOR evidence evaluation process and the guideline development process of major jurisdictions are governed by strict disclosure policies designed to make industry relations and other conflicts of interest fully transparent and to protect these processes from undue influence. The Chair of the Guideline Drafting Group and at least 50% of the Guideline Drafting Group members must be free of any conflict of interest. All relevant relationships are disclosed in the Targeted 2020 Update and in all ILCOR CoSTR[2] publications.

These guidelines contain the final wording of CoSTR statements as approved by ILCOR working groups and ILCOR member boards after review and consideration of the evidence and comments posted in response to CoSTR drafts. In this publication, each topic takes into consideration PICOST[3] as well as CoSTR, with an expanded section on rationale and highlights of the evidence to decision framework.

[1] ILCOR : International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation

[2] CoSTR : Consensus on Science with Treatment Recommendations

[3] PICOST: Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome, Study design, Time frame

Guidelines

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Guidelines

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