MADISON, Wis. --

Madison emergency personnel have a new protocol when it comes to cardiac response and care.

On Tuesday, the Madison Fire Department unveiled its new protocols, which call for cardiocerebral resuscitation or CCR instead of CPR in most cases, reported WISC-TV.

The process involves no mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing, as in traditional CPR. Instead, it uses continuous chest compressions at a rate of 100 per minute.

"If chest compressions are started in the first minute their survival probabilities are excellent," said Madison Fire Department medical director Dr. Darren Beam.

Beam is also a Medflight and emergency room physician at UW Hospital.

He said fewer than 30 percent of heat attack victims in Dane County receive CPR to bridge them until emergency crews arrive.

"Cardiac arrest survival rates have not changed locally or nationally in 20 years," said Beam.

Emergency personnel in Rock and Walworth counties have been using CCR as a primary means of cardiac treatment since 2004.

"It bridges not only the heart muscle, but the brain," said Beam.

"Nerve tissue is really intolerant of low blood-flow states," said Beam. "In three to four minutes you're suffering irreversible neurologic injury. Effective immediate chest compressions can bridge that for many, many minutes."

That bridge of time would allow emergency personnel to arrive on scene.

Rock and Walworth County authorities report a survivability rate of 40 percent over the traditional CPR method.

"We're talking about surviving to be discharged from the hospital," said Beam. "Walking out of the hospital, going to play with your kids, going back to work, paying taxes, basically resuming your life."

But he said the key is training the public.

They are advocating the public take a five-minute training course in case someone near you has a heart attack.

"First, call 911," said emergency physician Dr. Darren Beam. "Then start immediate ongoing chest compressions. If that happens in the first minute, their chances of survival are excellent. If it doesn't happen, their chances of survival are dismal."

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz was on of the first lay-people to be trained in CCR on Tuesday.

The training came at his request after witnessing a heart attack firsthand during the annual Crazy Legs race in April 2007.

"I witnessed a man have a heart attack right in front of me, literally right in front of me," said Cieslewicz. "I watched those personnel save his life twice. I saw them bring him back. He was not breathing when they started."

Cieslewicz said he had never formally been trained in CPR.

"It occurred to me that after watching that, that if he and I had been running together, just the two of us, he wouldn't have survived, because I wouldn't have known what to do," said Cieslewicz.

"If you want to learn to do the nuts and bolts and be able to respond in a vast majority of cases, give me four minutes of your time and we'll teach you how to do it," said Beam.

The Madison Fire Department is teaming up with the American Red Cross to offer CCR training to businesses across the city.

Employees at Monona Terrace will be among the first trained in CCR next month.

"Anybody can do it and with a little bit of training it can save a lot of lives," said Cieslewicz.

Beam said the five-minute CCR training does not offer certification and is not intended to be a replacement for the standard first-aid and CPR class offered by the Red Cross.

But he said it could save a life.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Badger Chapter of the American Red Cross said, "The Red Cross recognizes that giving chest compressions exclusively is an acceptable alternative for those persons who are unwilling, unable, untrained or no longer able to perform full CPR. As more people become aware of this alternative, more will step forward to help in an emergency and the safer our community will be."

Businesses interested in CCR training can call the Madison Fire Department's community education department at 266-4709.