Why Is CPR Being Used for End-of-Life Care?

February 5, 2015

(The Globe and Mail) – One of the most difficult and poorly understood issues in end-of-life care is the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Surveys of the general public’s knowledge about the success rate of CPR reveal a wide gap between the perception and the reality. Two major factors are responsible for this misapprehension: public education by TV programs rather than by accurate medical information; and the fact that CPR has come into common hospital practice, even in very inappropriate circumstances. Let’s take a look at the facts.