CPR rarely saves lives, so how did such a brutal and ineffective practice become the norm?

CPR is only truly effective against a very specific heart rhythm problem, yet it’s the most widely practised first aid technique. Berenice Langdon unravels healthcare’s biggest myth

How did a violent and aggressive therapy become a panacea for all conditions? (Getty/iStock)

I pound down the corridor holding my white coat from flapping, my heavy “pocket guides” banging against my legs, trying to be fast but dreading being first. The ward, then a receptionist, flashes past. I burst into room nine. Thank God the anaesthetist is ahead of me.

Chest compressions on the bare chest of an old, old man. Arms straight, pounding pressure straight from the shoulder, cold waxy skin under my palms. I am willing, but this man’s chest, crunching under the pressure, feels cold, still and strange. I glance up at the anaesthetist who is trying to intubate a patient whose neck is flexed forward in rigour mortis and I pause.

“This is ridiculous,” she says. “This man is dead. We shouldn’t be doing this.”