Ventricular Fibrillation in a Community Hospital

SINCE Kouwenhoven and his associates1 at Johns Hopkins first described closed-chest cardiac massage for the treatment of circulatory arrest, reports from other large centers have confirmed its efficacy.2 3 4 5 Combined with adequate oxygenation of the lungs, it maintains effective circulation until electrocardiographic diagnosis has been made and definitive treatment instituted. Zoll and his co-workers6 , 7 have developed an effective method of treating ventricular fibrillation with electric countershock. In a 100-bed community hospital we studied 5 patients with coronary-artery disease in whom circulatory arrest due to ventricular fibrillation developed and who were treated with closed-chest cardiac massage and electric defibrillation. In presenting our . . .