What technique involves chest compression followed by decompression to improve blood return to the heart?

The technique that involves chest compression followed by decompression to improve blood return to the heart is known as Active Compression-Decompression CPR (ACD-CPR). This method differentiates itself from traditional CPR by focusing not only on effective compressions but also on the importance of allowing the chest to fully recoil between compressions.

In ACD-CPR, after performing a compression, the rescuer actively pulls back on the chest, which creates a negative pressure that enhances venous return to the heart. This mechanism improves the circulation of blood during a cardiac arrest scenario. The science behind this technique is based on the concept that during decompression, the chest wall's elasticity and negative pressure facilitate filling of the heart chambers and promote better blood flow to vital organs.

While hands-only CPR emphasizes continuous chest compressions without rescue breaths, and methods like rescue breathing and bag-valve-mask ventilation focus on airway management and providing ventilations, they do not incorporate the specific sequence of compressions followed by active decompression to enhance cardiac output as ACD-CPR does.