Articles: emergency-medical-services.
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Resuscitation outside the hospital setting is a topic of increasing interest and discussion. A satisfactory neurologic outcome after acute cardiac arrest depends on immediate basic and the advanced cardiac life support (BCLS + ACLS). ⋯ To secure rapid assistance there should be one single phone number (e.g. 144) for emergency calls throughout Switzerland. Professionalism in the workup of emergency calls and in first aid by specialized personnel produces good results not only in cardiac but also in trauma patients.
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Comparative Study
Prehospital cardiac arrest survival and neurologic recovery.
Many studies of prehospital defibrillation have been conducted but the effects of airway intervention are unknown and neurologic follow-up has been incomplete. A non-randomized cohort prospective study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of defibrillation in prehospital cardiac arrest. Two ambulance companies in the study area developed a defibrillation protocol and they formed the experimental group. ⋯ No effect of defibrillation was found on survival to hospital discharge. However, endotracheal intubation improved survival in defibrillated patients. Survivors had a good functional outcome.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Prehospital resuscitation of hypotensive trauma patients with 7.5% NaCl versus 7.5% NaCl with added dextran: a controlled trial.
Small volume infusions of hypertonic saline combined with dextran are very effective in resuscitating animals that have been subjected to hemorrhagic shock, and seem to be effective in resuscitating trauma patients with severe injuries. In this study, the contribution of the dextran component was investigated in a prospective, three-armed, double-blind, randomized trial. Trauma patients transported by ambulance to the hospital with a systolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or less were given 250 mL of (1) normal saline (NS); (2) 7.5% NaCl (HS, for hypertonic saline); or (3) 7.5% NaCl in 6% dextran 70 (HSD). ⋯ By predetermined hypothesis, the observed survival rates in the three treatment groups were compared with the predicted survival rates from the TRISS methodology. The 7.5% NaCl solution significantly improved upon the predicted survival for the entire cohort and for high-risk patients when compared with the survival estimates from the TRISS methodology. The addition of a colloid, in the form of 6% dextran 70, did not offer any additional benefit, at least in this setting of rapid urban transport.
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The hospital emergency department (ED) has become an important means of access to health care for the elderly. Inadequacies in the current health care system for the elderly are reflected in their high utilization rates of the ED, continuing questions about the appropriateness of elderly ED patients, differences in the ED care offered the elderly versus the young, and poor coordination of care to and from the ED. ⋯ Economic, legal, and ethical issues that have changed the way medicine is practiced in other settings are finally reaching the sector of emergency services. The current and future roles of emergency medicine services, and the impact these issues will have on the practice of emergency medicine, are discussed.