LO
PilotPhysical automation2014-11-16
A mechanical chest-compression device showed no evidence of improving 30-day survival compared with manual compressions, a trial across four UK ambulance services found
Paramedic / EMToccupation page →
Event date / reported
2014-11-16
Evidence stage
PilotSmall-scale trial in a real setting. Tells us the deployment conditions are being tested, not that they hold — so one pilot is never enough on its own; two independent ones are.
Tasks this bears on
Treating patients on scene
Resuscitation, airway care, giving drugs, splinting, and lifting and moving patients in homes and on roads.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
United Kingdom. A pragmatic, cluster-randomised trial in which ambulance vehicles at 91 stations in four services were assigned to a mechanical chest-compression device or manual CPR; 4,471 adults with cardiac arrest were enrolled between 2010 and 2013. The authors found no evidence of improvement in 30-day survival with the device compared with manual compressions.
What this means
The machine that does chest compressions did not save more lives than crews doing them by hand.
What it does not yet show
One device in one country's trial; it may still help in transport or with too few crew.
What you can check
Open the PARAMEDIC trial in The Lancet (doi 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61886-9) and find "no evidence of improvement in 30 day survival".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event, and this stage does not move one on its own: a "Pilot" record counts toward a judgement but needs a second, independent record before the judgement rests on evidence. This one is counted; on its own it changed nothing.
Source
Perkins et al. — Mechanical versus manual chest compression for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (PARAMEDIC): a pragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial, The Lancet (published online 16 November 2014) · verified 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.