A nurse from Chung-Ang University Medical Center (CAUMC) has confirmed that a smartwatch and other applications can help improve cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as they provide accurate data in real-time.

Recently, companies have developed various devices for evaluating the quality of CPR. When used in actual cardiac arrest settings, however, the device attached to the patient's chest may cause rib fractures and hemothorax while causing hand pain and injuries on the person giving the resuscitation.

The research, led by Ahn Mi-sook, a nurse at the hospital, compared the usefulness of smart devices such as smartphones and smartwatches as a real-time feedback device in CPR practices on various categories, including speed, depth, and accuracy of chest compressions.

As a result, when the smart device was used for CPR training, there was no significant difference in the speed and depth of chest compressions recommended in the guidelines compared to conventional CPR.

When using a smartwatch compared to a smartphone during CPR, however, the team confirmed that the rescuer who performed CPR could receive feedback such as visual, auditory, or vibration in real-time to increase the accuracy of chest compression.

"This study is meaningful as it is the first study, which evaluated the methodological quality of smart devices in cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and analyzed the effects of the devices," Ahn said. "I hope that the use of smartwatches and various smart devices as the assistive devices of CPR will be more active so that they can be used in the emergency medical field."

The journal Resuscitation published the results of the study in its November issue last year.