Dispatchers Slow To Help 911 Callers Start CPR, Study Finds

A recent internal study concluded that Los Angeles Fire Department dispatchers waste valuable time asking pre-written questions before they start guiding 911 callers about providing life-saving CPR. Although irreversible brain damage can begin within four minutes of cardiac arrest, the study found that dispatchers sometimes took as long as seven minutes to get CPR procedures started.

• "LAFD Dispatchers Waste Time Getting 911 Callers To Start CPR" (Lopez et al., Los Angeles Times, 9/13).