Amid all the technology used in hospitals to keep critically ill people alive, doctors are looking at whether the low-tech step stool can make a difference in performing the lifesaving move cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR.

The process includes chest compressions that need to be deep enough to move blood out of the heart and toward the rest of the body. But when a rescuer is short and the victim is on a hospital bed, it can be hard to get enough leverage to press down on the chest.

Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center looked at whether using sturdy step stools helped improve the quality of CPR.

They found that the step stool worked best if the rescuer was about 1.67 meters or shorter, Edelson and her colleagues reported in the journal Resuscitation.

The study involved 50 people at their hospital, all trained in CPR, who performed chest compressions on a mannequin. Each did two two-minute rounds while standing on the floor and two while on a 23-cm-high step stool.

The mannequin was outfitted with a sensor that recorded the depth of chest compressions and other measures of CPR quality.

On average, the depth of their chest compressions increased by about a centimeter, which is significant, Edelson says.

It suggests that shorter rescuers "may get a big benefit" from using a step stool.

China Daily - Reuters