A guide to CPR in space could be helpful in treating astronaut heart attacks

By Abigail Beall

Simulation of a medical emergency in an airplane in weightlessness

Alexis Rosenfeld / Getty Images

Nobody has had a heart attack in space before. But with plans to send people back to the Moon within a few years and on missions to Mars, the chances are that it will eventually happen.

A new study by Jochen Hinkelbein at the University Hospital Cologne offers the most comprehensive guidelines to date for performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in space.

“This is critical work on a medical emergency that fortunately has not yet occurred during space travel.”