Resuscitation
-
Identification of the cause of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is of paramount importance. We investigated the ability of our imaging strategy to provide an early etiological diagnosis of OHCA and the influence of this strategy on ICU survival. ⋯ The use of an early diagnosis protocol with immediate coronary angiography and/or CT scan provided the etiology of nearly two thirds of OHCA cases. In this large retrospective database, coronary angiography yielded a better diagnostic value than brain and/or chest CT-scan.
-
Performance of high quality CPR is associated with improved resuscitation outcomes. This study investigates code leader ability to recall CPR error during post-event interviews when CPR recording/audiovisual feedback-enabled defibrillators are deployed. ⋯ Despite assistance by CPR recording/feedback-enabled defibrillators, pediatric code leaders fail to recall important CPR quality errors for CC rate, depth, and interruptions during post-cardiac arrest interviews.
-
Comparative Study
Team performance in resuscitation teams: comparison and critique of two recently developed scoring tools.
Following high profile errors resulting in patient harm and attracting negative publicity, the healthcare sector has begun to focus on training non-technical teamworking skills as one way of reducing the rate of adverse events. Within the area of resuscitation, two tools have been developed recently aiming to assess these skills - TEAM and OSCAR. The aims of the study reported here were: ⋯ Both OSCAR and TEAM can be used to assess resuscitation teams in a simulated environment, with the tools correlating well with one another. We envisage a role for both tools - with TEAM giving a quick, global assessment of the team, but OSCAR enabling more detailed breakdown of the assessment, facilitating feedback, and identifying areas of weakness for future training.
-
Letter Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of a rescuer's side of approach on their performance of conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
-
Continuing compressions during a defibrillation shock has been proposed as a method of reducing pauses in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but the safety of this procedure is unproven. The medical examination gloves worn by rescuers play an important role in protecting the rescuer yet the electrical characteristics of these gloves are unknown. This study examined the response of medical examination gloves to defibrillation voltages. ⋯ Few of the gloves tested limited the current to levels proven to be safe. A lack of sensation during hands-on defibrillation does not guarantee that a safety margin exists. As such, we encourage rescuers to minimize rather than eliminate the pause in compressions for defibrillation.