DALLAS | Updating the way everyday people do CPR, new recommendations urge many more chest compressions for victims of cardiac arrest.

The revised guidelines issued Monday November 28, 2005, by the American Heart Association on cardiopulmonary resuscitation advise giving 30 chest compressions — instead of 15 — for every two rescue breaths.

"Basically, the more times someone pushes on the chest, the better off the patient is," said Dr. Michael Sayre, an Ohio State University emergency medicine professor who helped develop the guidelines.

The guidelines also recommend cooling cardiac arrest patients for 12 to 24 hours to about 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Two significant studies have shown that practice can improve survival and brain function for those who are comatose after initial resuscitation.

More than 300,000 Americans die each year of cardiac arrest.