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Cardiac arrest

CPR on mattress vs floor: similar fatigue

Effect of Compression Surfaces on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Quality and Clinician Fatigue
Prehospital Emergency Care · Added 27 May 2026

They tested whether different compression surfaces affect CPR quality and clinician fatigue, and found surface characteristics significantly impact compression depth and rate consistency while also affecting provider fatigue.

Study type

Simulation

Design

Pilot randomised crossover manikin trial

Participants

40 EMS clinicians

Main finding

Time to failure was 145 s (IQR 65–240) on floor vs 140 s (IQR 100–420) on mattress (p=0.64); compression rates 112/min vs 105/min (p=0.12); no difference in fatigue or compression quality between surfaces.

Caveat

Small pilot simulation study in young EMS clinicians; not powered for clinical outcomes

Bottom line

Hypothesis-generating

Learning goal

Weigh the trade-offs between moving a patient to the floor and continuing compressions on a firm mattress during resuscitation.

More

• Topic: Cardiac arrest
• Daily scan: 27 May 2026

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