Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Induction of a shorter compression phase is correlated with a deeper chest compression during metronome-guided cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a manikin study.
Recent studies have shown that there may be an interaction between duty cycle and other factors related to the quality of chest compression. Duty cycle represents the fraction of compression phase. We aimed to investigate the effect of shorter compression phase on average chest compression depth during metronome-guided cardiopulmonary resuscitation. ⋯ Induction of a shorter compression phase is correlated with a deeper chest compression during metronome-guided cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
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A short-cut review was carried out to determine whether protein S100B either alone or incorporated into clinical guidelines could be used to identify accurately those adults with mild head injury who had significant brain trauma. Thirty-five papers were found using the reported searches, of which nine presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of those best papers are shown in table 3. It is concluded that while S100B is a sensitive test for traumatic brain injury, there is no evidence to determine whether it adds value to any current clinical guidelines.
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Evaluating the quality of life of young adult survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is important as they are likely to have a longer life expectancy than older patients. The aim of this study was to assess their functional and quality of life outcomes. ⋯ The majority of survivors have good functional and quality of life outcomes. Telephone follow-up is feasible in the young adult survivors of cardiac arrest; loss to follow-up is common.
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Review
BET 2: Is prehospital focused abdominal ultrasound useful during triage at mass casualty incidents?
A short-cut review was carried out to determined whether the addition of prehospital focused abdominal ultrasound to triage protocols might reduce time to necessary surgery and reduce overall mortality. Thirty-five papers were found using the reported searches, of which three presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of those best papers are shown in table 2. It is concluded that although the feasibility of prehospital ultrasound in mass casualty incidents has been demonstrated, there is, as yet, no clear evidence of benefit as part of a triage protocol.
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In water resuscitation has been reported to enhance the outcome of drowning victims. Mouth-to-mouth ventilation during swimming is challenging. Therefore, the efficacy of ventilation utilities was evaluated. ⋯ The use of Poseidon Cyklon 5000, Poseidon XStream and Scubapro Air2 regulators is consequently not recommended for in-water ventilation. With the limitation that the devices were tested with a test lung and not in a human field study, Apeks TX 100, Spiro Arctic and Buddy AutoAir might be used for emergency ventilation and probably ease in-water resuscitation for the dive buddy of the victim. Professional rescue divers could be equipped with the Oxylator and an oxygen tank to achieve an early onset of efficient in-water ventilation in drowning victims.