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Conventional CPR best for drowning OHCA

Effect of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation type on 1-month survival in drowning following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in natural water bodies: a nationwide retrospective cohort study
Resuscitation · Added 29 July 2026

Retrospective cohort of 3914 drowning-related OHCA patients found conventional CPR (compressions with rescue breaths) was associated with higher 1-month survival compared with hands-only CPR (24.1% vs 9.4%), and both were superior to no CPR (2.7%).

Study type

Registry

Design

Retrospective nationwide registry cohort (Utstein, Japan 2016-2022)

Participants

3914 drowning-related OHCAs in natural water bodies

Main finding

1-month survival: no bystander CPR 2.7%, hands-only CPR 9.4%, conventional CPR 24.1%. Versus no CPR, conventional CPR AOR 3.70 (95% CI 2.31-5.93), hands-only AOR 1.74 (1.19-2.54); conventional CPR superior to hands-only (AOR 2.13, 95% CI 1.41-3.23).

Caveat

Retrospective registry data with residual confounding and only 232 patients (5.9%) receiving conventional CPR.

Bottom line

Supports current practice

Learning goal

Understand how drowning physiology shapes the choice between conventional and compression-only bystander CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

More

• Topic: Cardiac arrest
• Daily scan: 29 July 2026

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