Resuscitation
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Comparative Study
Neurological rehabilitation of severely disabled cardiac arrest survivors. Part I. Course of post-acute inpatient treatment.
Some survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) sustain anoxic brain injury. The aim of this study was to offer these patients a new treatment approach, to describe the course and outcome of rehabilitation, and to judge whether rehabilitation provided benefit. ⋯ Rehabilitation of selected CA survivors is appropriate, reducing the subsequent burden of care. Although in 55%, only minor dependence on care persisted, on a group level, the potential for rehabilitation was modest, and recovery curve was flat. Before admission, families should be given realistic information about the possible outcome, because independence was rarely achieved.
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To determine survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) in Copenhagen, according to the Utstein recommendations, and compare this with other emergency medical services systems. ⋯ Survival after CA is more likely if the collapse was witnessed and in patients with VF/VT of cardiac aetiology.
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Comparative Study
Ventilation volumes with different self-inflating bags with reference to the ERC guidelines for airway management: comparison of two compression techniques.
The 1998 ERC-guidelines for airway-management recommend an tidal volume of 400-600 ml for adults undergoing CPR. As commercially available self-inflating bags were designed to meet former recommendations (800-1200 ml) we investigated how to meet the latest recommendations with these bags. We combined the head of a training manikin (Laerdal Medical) and a standard lung (VTTL; Michigan Instrument), adjusted to a physiological compliance and resistance. ⋯ Applying technique 2 the volumes ranged from 888 to 1192 ml. The latest recommendations were met using a single hand technique without compression against the rescuers knee for all seven bags tested. The modified open palm technique produced larger tidal volumes which were more in line with previous recommendations.