[CPR--guidelines 2000. New international guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation]

The "Guidelines 2000 for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. An International Consensus an Science" are the first true international CPR guidelines in the history of resuscitation medicine. Experts from major international resuscitation organizations (International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, ILCOR) achieved a consensus of recommendations which had to pass a rigorous review procedure applying the tools of evidence-based medicine: all proposed guidelines or guideline changes had to be based on critically appraised pieces of evidence which had to be integrated into a final class of recommendations. The most important changes compared to previous recommendations from either the European Resuscitation Council or the American Heart Association are presented and commented upon.