Readiness of Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (BCPR) during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review

Muhammad Fattah Fazel; Mohamad Haiqal Nizar Mohamad; Mohd Azmani Sahar; Norsham Juliana; Izuddin Fahmy Abu; Srijit Das

doi:10.3390/ijerph191710968

Readiness of Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (BCPR) during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 2;19(17):10968. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191710968.

Authors

Muhammad Fattah Fazel^{1

2}, Mohamad Haiqal Nizar Mohamad², Mohd Azmani Sahar¹, Norsham Juliana¹, Izuddin Fahmy Abu², Srijit Das³

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai 71800, Malaysia.
² Institute of Medical Science Technology, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur 50250, Malaysia.
³ Department of Human and Clinical Anatomy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Alkoudh, Muscat 123, Oman.

Abstract

Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a strong link in the of survival for sudden cardiac arrest. Hence, bystander CPR (BPCR) plays an important role in curbing mortality and morbidity from out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest. However, the recent global Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted both public training and confidence in performing out-of-hospital CPR. This paper reviews detailed information from databases including Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science on the readiness of BCPR during the pandemic. We also discussed the challenges bystanders encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic and the precautions to follow. Finally, we also highlighted the limitations which would benefit future endeavours in establishing well-planned and sustainable CPR training programs for the public. Therefore, regardless of the existing COVID-19 pandemic, BCPR must be emphasised to curb out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) mortality.

Keywords: COVID-19; CPR; OHCA; bystander CPR; cardiac arrest; pandemic.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation*
Death, Sudden, Cardiac
Emergency Medical Services*
Humans
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest* / epidemiology
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest* / therapy
Pandemics

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia Matching grant (USIM/MG/RSTECH/FPSK/055012/70619) and the Prototype Research Grant Scheme (PRGS) from the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (USIM/PRGS/1/2018/SKK01/USIM/02/1).