European resuscitation Council Guidelines for Resuscitation 2010 Section 1. Executive summary

The publication of these European Resuscitation Council (ERC) Guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) updates those that were published in 2005 and maintains the established 5-yearly cycle of guideline changes. Like the previous guidelines, these 2010 guidelines are based on the most recent International Consensus on CPR Science with Treatment Recommendations (CoSTR), which incorporated the results of systematic reviews of a wide range of topics relating to CPR. Resuscitation science continues to advance, and clinical guidelines must be updated regularly to reflect these developments and advise healthcare providers on best practice. In between the 5-yearly guideline updates, interim scientific statements can inform the healthcare provider about new therapies that might influence outcome significantly. This executive summary provides the essential treatment algorithms for the resuscitation of children and adults and highlights the main guideline changes since 2005.