[Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. General facts and introduction]

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation consists of the integration of treatment for cardiorespiratory arrest as a set of standardized steps, whose objective is to first substitute, and later restore, spontaneous respiration and circulation. This calls for a sequential development; this implies that there are not a series of actions which for prematureness influences their order, but these should be applied sequentially at the right time. There are different criteria among the recommendations by the ERC (European Resuscitation Council) and the AHA (American Heart Association). At the present time, the International Liaison Committee of Resuscitation (ILCOR) has developed a series of recommendations which tries to eliminate these differences, as well as simplify the number of steps necessary to achieve a greater diffusion of these techniques which will lead to a higher number of persons saved. There are also agreements on the incorporation of some terms so we will more frequently read the term Basic Vital Support instead of Basic Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation or Advanced Vital Support instead of Advanced Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. This article is the first of a series of four articles on cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. The remaining articles will appear in later editions of our magazine.