In fact, some health experts say that rescuers should forget about the breathing component of CPR and instead focus entirely on administering regular chest compressions in order to improve a person's chance for recovery without brain damage.

Results of the study, which was carried out by Ken Nagao and colleagues at Surugadai Nihon University Hospital in Tokyo, are published in The Lancet.

Keeping the blood flowing to the brain and heart is what matters most, the scientists concluded, and when a rescuer stops compressions to blow air into the lungs of a victim, that flow is interrupted.

Simplifying rescue procedures and removing the possibility that a good samaritan might contract an infectious disease by administering the "kiss of life" are other good reasons for eliminating the breathing component in CPR, experts note.

However, rescue breathing is still important for a small number of cardiac arrest victims, including those who drown, choke or overdose on drugs, they caution.