The BVM Effect. An overview of studies assessing airway management in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Numerous studies addressing airway management in OHCA have shown a strong association between improved survival with treatment using BVM alone rather than with advanced airways. This BVM effect appears to persist despite variations in geographical region, patient population, and CPR quality. The underlying cause of this phenomenon remains to be determined. Of note, the survival benefit with BVM alone vs. advanced airways doesn't appear in the pediatric population in the papers reviewed by the authors. The authors recommend that a prospective randomized study be conducted in order to explore this finding and to attempt to determine its causation.