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Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Pulse checks are necessary during CPR to check for return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) Previous studies have shown that assessing ROSC with palpating for pulse are not a very consistent Study compared palpating pulses at carotid/femoral artery versus a newly contrived gold standard for pulse checks The gold standard used was an increase in end tidal CO2 + cardiac activity on ultrasound + perfusing rhythm on ECG Carotid artery palpation was the best location to confirm pulse during pulse check, although femoral artery palpation Carotid artery palpation was 92% accurate versus 82% accuracy with femoral pulse check Regardless of chosen site, remember 10 seconds is the maximum amount of time for a pulse check before resuming CPR References Yılmaz G, Bol O. Comparison of femoral and carotid arteries in terms of pulse check in cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A prospective observational study. Resuscitation. 2021;162:56-62. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2021.01.042 Summarized by John Spartz, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD The Emergency Medical Minute is excited to announce that we are now offering AMA PRA Category 1 credits™ via online course modules. To access these and for more information, visit our website at https://emergencymedicalminute.org/cme-courses/ and create an account. Donate to EMM today!