Resuscitation
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There is no information on the clinical features and outcome of patients receiving multiple Medical Emergency Team (MET) reviews. Accordingly, we studied the characteristics and outcome of patients receiving one MET call and compared them with those receiving multiple MET reviews. ⋯ In our hospital, one fifth of patients receiving MET calls are subject to multiple MET calls. Such patients have identifiable features and have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Within any rapid response system, such patients should be recognized as a higher risk group and receive specific additional attention.
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Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains a leading cause of mortality and serious neurological disability across Europe. Without immediate bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), chances of survival are minimal. Despite community initiatives to increase the number of trained CPR providers, the effectiveness of these measures remains unknown and the proportion of OHCA patients receiving bystander CPR in the United Kingdom yet to be established. We sought to identify the change in the rate of bystander CPR in south east Scotland over a 16-year period. ⋯ There has been a significant increase in bystander CPR in south east Scotland during the 16-year period. Bystander CPR is associated with an increased rate of survival and targeted CPR training for relatives of patients at risk of sudden cardiac death may be beneficial.
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Accidental hypothermia (AH) is a complex and life threatening condition. Knowledge about epidemiology, rewarming treatments, complications and outcome is limited. This study was initiated to obtain data on causes, rewarming treatments and complications. ⋯ AH is a rare diagnosis in an inhomogeneous population, treated with a large variety of rewarming techniques. Most complications and death occurred late, after rewarming was completed. Because individual teams gain little clinical experiences, we suggest multiple centre data collection as a first step towards an evidence-based standard of care.