Resuscitation
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In 2005 the American Heart Association released guidelines calling for routine use of automated external defibrillators during pediatric out-of-hospital arrest. The goal of this study was to determine if these guidelines are used during resuscitations. ⋯ Young children suffering from presumed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are less likely to have a shockable rhythm when compared to adults, and are less likely to have an AED used during resuscitation.
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Observational Study
External Validation of Termination of Resuscitation Guidelines in the Setting of Intra-arrest Cold Saline, Mechanical CPR, and Comprehensive Post Resuscitation Care.
The development of advanced life support (ALS) termination of resuscitation (TOR) guidelines for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) seeks to improve the efficiency of scarce pre-hospital resources. However, as pre-hospital treatment for OHCA evolves and survival improves, these TOR guidelines must be reevaluated in the contemporary context of emergency medical services (EMS) providing access to advanced resuscitation care. ⋯ The TOR guidelines continue to have a reliable positive predictive value for death even in the setting of advanced EMS resuscitation methods and access to a CPRC. However, as the potential for survival from OHCA improves, the efficiency gained from their use is impacted greatly.
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To describe prodromal symptoms and health care consumption prior to an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in patients without previously known ischaemic heart disease (IHD). ⋯ Patients who suffer an OHCA seek health care and present prodromal symptoms significantly more often the week prior to the event than the same week one year earlier.
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The mortality for patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) after cardiac arrest (CA) remains high despite advances in resuscitation and post-resuscitation care. The Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) III is the only score that can predict hospital mortality within an hour of admission to ICU. The objective was to evaluate the performance of SAPS III to predict mortality for post-CA patients. ⋯ The SAPS III did not predict mortality in patients admitted to ICU after CA. The amount of time before specialized CPR, the low-flow interval and the absence of an initial ventricular arrhythmia appeared to be independently associated with mortality and these factors should be used to predict mortality for these patients.
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Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival. Telephone CPR (TCPR) comprises CPR instruction given by emergency dispatchers to bystanders responding to OHCA and the CPR performed as a result. TCPR instructions improve bystander CPR rates, but the quality of the instructions varies widely. No standardized system exists to critically evaluate the TCPR intervention. ⋯ We developed and demonstrated successful implementation of a simple data collection and reporting system for critical evaluation of the TCPR intervention. A standardized methodology for measuring TCPR is necessary to perform on-going quality improvement, to establish performance standards, and for future research on how to optimize bystander CPR rates and OHCA survival.