Annals of the American Thoracic Society
-
Multicenter Study
Acceptability and Perceived Utility of Telemedical Consultation during Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation. A Multicenter Survey.
Rationale: Many clinicians who participate in or lead in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) resuscitations lack confidence for this task or worry about errors. Well-led IHCA resuscitation teams deliver better care, but expert resuscitation leaders are often unavailable. Objectives: To determine the acceptability and perceived utility of using telemedicine technology to enable remote IHCA resuscitation participation by a critical care physician. ⋯ The majority of respondents expected a telemedical copilot for IHCA teams to exert a positive or neutral effect on patient care (51% [95% CI, 44-59%] and 33% [95% CI, 30-37%], respectively). Overall, 41% (95% CI, 31-51%) of respondents favored adding a telemedical critical care physician as IHCA team "copilot," 35% (95% CI, 30-40%) were neutral, and 24% (95% CI, 18-32%) were opposed. Clinicians based at smaller hospitals or on the ward or ICU were most likely to foresee beneficial effects from a telemedicine physician "copilot."Conclusions: ICU- and, especially, ward-based IHCA resuscitation teams at community and rural hospitals were amenable to adding a telemedical critical care physician consultant as IHCA team "copilot." Respondents expected the greatest benefits for IHCA events occurring on the wards.