Research suggests CPR is most likely to benefit patients whose hearts stopped while receiving anesthesia, following a drug overdose or because of heart disease or certain rhythm problems. Among patients healthy and hospitalized when their hearts stop beating, roughly 30 percent survive and leave the hospital. Survival drops to about 5 percent or lower for patients battling advanced AIDS or cancer, kidney failure, widespread infection and other advanced, chronic ailments. Three percent of nursing home residents who underwent CPR survived to leave the hospital. Survivors sometimes are also left with mental and nervous system problems.
Damage occurs when the brain's blood supply is interrupted.
Without a beating heart and lungs to pump oxygen into the blood, death occurs in minutes. Such orders are reversible. A DNR can also dictate whether CPR is used in nursing homes or other facilities. Typically, a DNR order, signed by a physician, means if the patient's heart stops outside the hospital, emergency medical services aren't summoned. States are beginning to craft DNR orders to guide responding emergency medical workers.