To the Editor.—
Recently, The Journal published "Standards for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and (CPR) Emergency Cardiac Care (ECC)" (227:833, 1974). Several practical points, often omitted in professional training, need emphasis.Effective CPR requires group organization. Resuscitation teaching usually consists of lectures and of practice in ventilating and compressing a dummy. Seldom is a "cardiac arrest" simulated; trainees must learn organization and performance techniques at real arrests. Efficiently delivered resuscitation, however, is as important as scientific knowledge. Group practices and preorganization are helpful.Since resuscitation of an arrested patient is perhaps the most dramatic scene in medicine, many hospital personnel are attracted to the scene. Most want to help, but after six to ten people arrive, additional people decrease efficiency. Resuscitation team members should include an anesthesiologist, a cardiologist, a pharmacist, and three or four others to bring equipment, compress the chest, start an intravenous infusion, inject drugs, and record events, but