Upside Down: Space Turns CPR On Its Head

Giving a crew member on the space station cardiopulmonary resuscitation can be a daunting problem. That's because when you press down on the crewman's chest in zero gravity, you go up, up and away.

That's just one of the reasons why critical-care medicine in space requires thinking forward, said Scott Dulchavsky, associate professor of surgery at Wayne State University in Detroit, who consults to the National Aviation and Space Administration on how to care for astronauts far from earth.