• Audrey Imbert, Jean-Yves Fagon, Jean-Marc Tadié, and Nicholas Heming.
• Service de Réanimation Médicale, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, 20-40, rue Leblanc, 75908 Paris cedex 15, France.
• Prehosp Emerg Care. 2012 Jul 1;16(3):356-60.

IntroductionDrowning following a fall from a bridge can lead to cardiac arrest caused by hypoxia, hypothermia, or severe traumatic injury. Every year patients are brought to our hospital who have nearly drowned in the local river after a jump from a bridge (approximate height 16-22 meters). We report traumatic injuries in patients admitted to our hospital for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to drowning.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the charts of all patients admitted to the intensive care units of our hospital for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to drowning after a jump from a bridge in the Seine River between 2002 and 2010. All clinical or radiologic evidence of trauma was recorded.ResultsA total of 37 patients where admitted to our hospital for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to drowning. Fourteen patients had radiologic examinations. Five of these examinations showed evidence of severe trauma. In one case, clinical examination showed evidence of severe peripheral neurologic trauma. Seven of these patients (19%) were discharged from the hospital alive.ConclusionsPatients found nearly drowned in a river spanned by a medium-height bridge should undergo spinal immobilization and complete radiologic examination as soon as possible.

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