Resuscitation
-
This is a commentary on the study conducted by Kennedy et al. from Victoria, Australia, that analyzed the cohort of all adult EMS-witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients in the region and compared patients treated during the COVID-19 period to a historical comparator period. The commentary summarizes the study findings and discusses the importance of the study in the context of the chain of survival and changes in airway management for OHCA patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
Studies support rapid interventions to improve outcomes in patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest. We sought to decrease the time to code team activation and improve dissemination of patient-specific data to facilitate targeted treatments. ⋯ Implementation of a smartphone-based code button notification system reduced time to code team activation by 78 s. Larger cohorts are necessary to assess effects on patient outcomes.
-
Knowledge about the use of healthcare services in patients experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is limited. We aimed to describe and compare the use of healthcare by OHCA survivors two years before and one year after cardiac arrest. ⋯ The use of primary, specialist and mental healthcare services increased before OHCA and remained significantly higher the year after OHCA. Less than half of the patients surviving cardiac arrest were registered for rehabilitation.