The American Heart Association has issued new interim guidelines for providing CPR and emergency cardiovascular care for patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.
The guidelines are drawn from CDC recommendations for caring for COVID-19 patients and may vary based on location.
CPR and other procedures that may generate airborne particles (for example, saliva droplets), such as noninvasive ventilation, should be performed in airborne infection isolation rooms, and personnel should use respiratory protection. The number of providers present for these procedures in the rooms should be limited.
Personnel conducting these aerosol-generating procedures should have priority in using N95 respirators and gowns in facilities where there are shortages, the heart association says.
The guidance also recommends proceeding directly to endotracheal intubation in patients with acute respiratory failure, instead of using high-flow nasal oxygenation and bilevel positive airway pressure or continuous positive airway pressure via a mask, since these have a greater risk of generating aerosols.
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