European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The Stop-Only-While-Shocking algorithm reduces hands-off time by 17% during cardiopulmonary resuscitation - a simulation study.
Reducing hands-off time during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is believed to increase survival after cardiac arrests because of the sustaining of organ perfusion. The aim of our study was to investigate whether charging the defibrillator before rhythm analyses and shock delivery significantly reduced hands-off time compared with the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) 2010 CPR guideline algorithm in full-scale cardiac arrest scenarios. ⋯ In full-scale cardiac arrest simulations, a minor change consisting of charging the defibrillator before rhythm check reduces hands-off time by 17% compared with ERC2010 guidelines.
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Intravenous access in prehospital emergency care allows for early administration of medication and extended measures such as anaesthesia. Cannulation may, however, be difficult, and failure and resulting delay in treatment and transport may have negative effects on the patient. Therefore, our study aims to perform a concise assessment of the difficulties of prehospital venous cannulation. ⋯ Our study offers a simple assessment to identify cases of difficult intravenous access in prehospital emergency care. Of the numerous factors subjectively perceived as possibly exerting influences on cannulation, only the universal - not exclusive to emergency care - factors of lighting, vein visibility and palpability proved to be valid predictors of cannulation failure and exceedance of a 2 min threshold.