Cardiac arrest: composition of resuscitation teams and training techniques: results of a hospital survey in German-speaking countries.

Background: The long-term outcome of patients requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation depends heavily on swift and appropriate care. The aim of this study was to obtain data on the composition and training of resuscitation teams in specialist departments for internal medicine and anesthesiology.

Methods: Between October 2006 and February 2007, 440 questionnaires were sent to departments for anesthesiology and internal medicine in Germany (hospitals with more than 300 beds) and to university hospitals in Switzerland and Austria.