Acute cardiac care & resuscitation
Real-time feedback during bag-valve-mask ventilation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a before-and-after study (VEntilation during Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Study, VECARS-2)
Authors' conclusion
Real-time feedback was associated with improved adherence to the guideline-recommended range for Vi, less dispersed Vi,and lower leak volume. Causal inference, clinical significance, and generalizability warrant further evaluation.
Study context
- Population
- Adults with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest managed by basic life support teams from the Paris Fire Brigade, receiving bag-valve-mask ventilation during 30:2 cardiopulmonary resuscitationpatients, 4,300 ventilations analyzed · without feedback 96 · with feedback 67
- Participants
- 163 adults
- Exposure
- Bag-valve-mask ventilation quality before and after the implementation of real-time feedback
- Period-2 (with feedback)n = 67
- Period-1 (without feedback)n = 96
- Outcome
- Median insufflated volume (Vi)
Methodological detailstwo sequential adult cohorts
- Two sequential adult cohorts
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
P = 0.03 for the first ventilation of each cycle
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Median expiratory tidal volume (Vt) · unchanged
P = 0.84
Vi 400-600 mL (share of ventilations)
Vt 400-600 mL (share of ventilations)
| Outcome | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Vi dispersionReduced by 35% | mean within-patient IQR ratio 0.65 (95% CI 0.53–0.77) |
| Leak volume12% lower with feedback · multivariable analysis | mean ratio 0.88 (95% CI 0.77–0.99) |
Original publication
Real-time feedback during bag-valve-mask ventilation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a before-and-after study (VEntilation during Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Study, VECARS-2). Resuscitation. Published 20 October 2026. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it