Resuscitation
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In this prospective before-and-after clinical study, Amsterdam police and firefighters used AEDs with BTE waveforms: an AED with larger electrodes in 2016-2017 (113 cm2), and an AED with smaller electrodes in 2017-2020 (65 cm2). We analyzed 157 and 178 patient cases with an initial shockable rhythm where the larger and smaller electrodes were used, respectively. A single 200-J shock terminated ventricular fibrillation (VF) in 86% of patients treated with large electrodes and 89% of patients treated with smaller electrodes. Small electrodes had a non-inferior first shock defibrillation success rate compared to large electrodes, with a difference of 3% (95% CI: -3% -9%) with the lower confidence limit remaining above the defined non-inferiority threshold. TTI was significantly higher for the smaller electrodes (median: 100 Ω) compared to the larger electrodes (median: 88 Ω) (p < 0.001). ⋯ For AEDs with impedance-compensating BTE waveforms, TTI was higher for smaller electrodes than the large electrode electrodes. Overall defibrillation shock success for AEDs with smaller electrodes was non-inferior to the AEDs with larger electrodes.
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Women have less favorable resuscitation characteristics than men. We investigated whether the Advanced Life Support Termination of Resuscitation rule (ALS-TOR) performs equally in women and men. Additionally, we studied whether adding or removing criteria from the ALS-TOR improved classification into survivors and non-survivors. ⋯ For both women and men, the ALS-TOR has high specificity and low miss rate for predicting 30-day OHCA survival. We could not improve the classification with additional characteristics. Employing a simplified version may decrease the number of futile transports to the hospital.