Drowning and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. Relevance of the Problem and Effect of Physical Training on Resuscitation Quality

Abstract

Every hour, every day, more than 40 people lose their lives by drowning." These are the first words of one of the different drowning reports published by the World Health Organization, which consideres drowning as a neglected public health issue. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is the main early treatment in the unconscious not-breathing drowning patient, and it is broached from the Sport Sciences field. Therefore, in this Thesis by Compendium of Publications, the aim was to review the main important factors related to drowning. In addition, acute muscul fatigue cused by cardiopulmonary resuscitation was assesed just as the effect of a strength-training program in resuscitation quality. Although it is the case that more research is necessary to allow more definitive recommendations, the existing evidence is sufficient for the creation of specific guidelines regarding drowning, which can be updated in the future following the completion of more randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials. In the analysis of acute muscle fatigue by means of tensiomyography, lower values were found for radial displacement and contraction velocity in the triceps brachii during compressiononly resuscitation. This suggests higher rates of muscular stiffness and slower muscle fiber conduction respectively, which implies higher muscle fatigue rates. In view of the obtained results, compression-only resuscitation causes more muscle fatigue in the rescuer than compression-ventilation resuscitation. Finally, in view of the obtained results, a strength-training program helped to improve resuscitation quality and to maintain it over time.