Podcast #227: CPR-Induced Consciousness

Author: Nick Hatch, M.D. Educational Pearls CPR-induced consciousness is a phenomenon that occurs when someone who was previously unconscious and is undergoing CPR regains consciousness and makes purposeful movements. Studies have shown that this phenomenon is increasing, likely because of increased quality of CPR. Many people use a sedative such as ketamine  to keep patients unconscious to reduce the psychologic trauma of CPR. 39% of people who survive CPR with good neurologic details remember the process of CPR  . References: Joshua Pound, P. Richard Verbeek, and Sheldon Cheske. CPR Induced Consciousness During Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Case Report on an Emerging Phenomenon. 2017. Prehospital Emergency Care Vol. 21.