Resuscitation
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There is no up-to-date literature review of physiologically based, aggregate weighted 'track and trigger' systems (AWTTS) and few data on their predictive ability for serious adverse outcomes. The aim of this study was to describe the AWTTS in clinical use and assess their ability to discriminate between survivors and non-survivors of hospital admission, based on an initial set of vital signs. ⋯ There is a wide range of unique, but very similar, AWTTS in clinical use. There is no consistency regarding their physiological components, but the majority differ only in minor variations in the weightings for physiological derangement and/or the cut-off points between physiological weighting bands. The performance of most systems tested was poor when used to discriminate between survivors and non-survivors, although 36% discriminated reasonably well. Our results suggest that physiology can be used to predict outcome, but that further work is required to improve the AWTTS models.
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Induced hypothermia improves outcomes in patients resuscitated successfully after cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation. However, a minority of US physicians currently use the therapy. The aim of this study was to project the public health impact of implementing hypothermia in all eligible US out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survivors. ⋯ If US physicians adopt therapeutic hypothermia fully in eligible patients with OHCA, 2298 additional patients per year would be expected to achieve a good neurological outcome, a substantial public health impact. Barriers to adoption should be researched and addressed to increase acceptance and use by US physicians.