To prevent fatigue, how often should the team rotate the person delivering chest compressions?

To prevent fatigue, how often should the team rotate the person delivering chest compressions?

• A. Every 2 minutes
• B. Every 5 cycles
• C. Every 1 minute
• D. Every 30 seconds

Answer: (B)

Keeping chest compressions effective requires swapping the person delivering them before fatigue diminishes depth and rate. When you’re performing compressions at the usual pace (about 100–120 per minute), switching after roughly five cycles helps ensure the new rescuer can deliver compressions with proper depth and recoil without fatigue interfering. In practice, five cycles of 30 compressions each translates to a practical handoff interval that keeps the quality high, so this cycle-based timing is a reliable rule of thumb. Shorter intervals like every minute or every 30 seconds would cause unnecessary interruptions and fragmentation of the ongoing CPR, while waiting until two minutes can risk reduced quality if fatigue sets in sooner. That’s why rotating after five cycles is the best answer.

Keeping chest compressions effective requires swapping the person delivering them before fatigue diminishes depth and rate. When you’re performing compressions at the usual pace (about 100–120 per minute), switching after roughly five cycles helps ensure the new rescuer can deliver compressions with proper depth and recoil without fatigue interfering. In practice, five cycles of 30 compressions each translates to a practical handoff interval that keeps the quality high, so this cycle-based timing is a reliable rule of thumb. Shorter intervals like every minute or every 30 seconds would cause unnecessary interruptions and fragmentation of the ongoing CPR, while waiting until two minutes can risk reduced quality if fatigue sets in sooner. That’s why rotating after five cycles is the best answer.