During high-quality CPR on an adult, what action should you ensure is being accomplished?

During high-quality CPR on an adult, what action should you ensure is being accomplished?

• A. Reassessing every 2 minutes
• B. Ventilating with a bag-mask between compressions
• C. Maintaining a pace of 60-100 compressions per minute
• D. Compressing to a depth of at least 2 inches

Answer: (D)

Delivering chest compressions with sufficient depth is what makes CPR effective in an adult. The recommended depth is at least 2 inches (about 5 cm) with each compression, and you should allow full recoil between compressions. This depth is what generates adequate forward blood flow to vital organs like the brain and heart; compressions that are too shallow dramatically reduce perfusion and survival chances. While other steps are important—rechecking rhythms periodically, providing ventilations, and maintaining a quick tempo—these don’t carry the same impact on immediate perfusion as achieving the proper compression depth. The pace should be fast enough (about 100–120 compressions per minute), not slower, and ventilations, when used, should be integrated in a way that minimizes pauses in chest compressions.

Delivering chest compressions with sufficient depth is what makes CPR effective in an adult. The recommended depth is at least 2 inches (about 5 cm) with each compression, and you should allow full recoil between compressions. This depth is what generates adequate forward blood flow to vital organs like the brain and heart; compressions that are too shallow dramatically reduce perfusion and survival chances.

While other steps are important—rechecking rhythms periodically, providing ventilations, and maintaining a quick tempo—these don’t carry the same impact on immediate perfusion as achieving the proper compression depth. The pace should be fast enough (about 100–120 compressions per minute), not slower, and ventilations, when used, should be integrated in a way that minimizes pauses in chest compressions.