James Menegazzi, professor of resuscitation research at Pitt's department of emergency medicine, said researchers will analyze the information to determine how the quality of CPR could change to benefit those who suffer sudden cardiac arrest.
"If we can see what works best, we can further refine CPR interventions and save more lives,” said Menegazzi, the lead investigator in a $1.8 million project the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is underwriting.
Recent studies have shown that administering CPR immediately after cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim's chances of survival. Even so, the American Heart Association says the survival rate for the more than 350,000 Americans who suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year is less than 7 percent.
Safar, an anesthesiologist who died in 2003, is credited with developing CPR and advocating for programs that have trained millions of laymen.
Pittsburgh, where first responders and civic leaders embraced practices Safar began advocating in the early 1960s, has more than doubled the survival rate of sudden cardiac arrest victims to about 16 percent, Menegazzi said.
"In Pittsburgh, we have an amazing tradition of leading edge science in the field of resuscitation medicine,” Menegazzi said.
Researchers at Pitt and several other sites, including the University of Washington, which will coordinate the data, are set to begin their work next month. They will be analyzing data from more than 16,000 electrocardiograms through May 2018.
Menegazzi said scientists believe the largest collection of data ever amassed from cardiac arrest victims could reflect when and how the length, rhythm and duration of CPR chest compressions, as well as the use of drugs like epinephrine and electric shock, are best delivered.
He speculated that the manufacturers of automated external defibrillators might be able to use the data to determine the best settings for the machines that are used to shock hearts back into a regular rhythm.
"Not only can we use this information now,” Menegazzi said, “but we can repackage it so it will be very useful to people in the future.”