Here are 10 important steps to take from the new American Heart Association guidelines:

• Compress harder than you think.
• Compress faster than you think.
• Focus on complete release of the chest wall with every compression.
• Continue compressing until the defibrillator is fully charged and ready to go.
• Start the intubation process during the performance of chest compressions. Stop only briefly when the glottis is identified and the tube is inserted. Then restart immediately.
• With 1-rescuer CPR, practice moving quickly from compression to ventilation and back to compression.
• With 2-rescuer CPR, practice timing breaths to reduce the time from compression to ventilation and back to compression.
• Rotate rescuers every 2 minutes.
• Appoint someone the "CPR Quality Control Person" during a code.
• During continuous-compression CPR (that is, with an advanced airway in place), never hyperventilate. When possible, use a timing device to ensure that this doesn't occur.

ER Stapleton
Currents in Emergency Cardiovascular Care
American Heart Association, Summer 2006.