Annals of emergency medicine
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The identification and treatment of reversible causes is paramount to the success of resuscitation in cardiac arrest, particularly when standard therapy has failed. Acute coronary occlusion is one such cause, and the introduction of primary percutaneous coronary intervention services may provide an opportunity for emergency revascularization in this setting. ⋯ The first patient had refractory ventricular fibrillation, and the second had an episode of ventricular fibrillation followed by true pulseless electrical activity: total cessation of ventricular activity. In both examples, external mechanical compression and primary percutaneous coronary intervention facilitated coronary revascularization and achieved return of spontaneous circulation, leading to survival to hospital discharge.
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In March 2014, Annals of Emergency Medicine continued a successful collaboration with an academic Web site, Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM), to host another Global Emergency Medicine Journal Club session featuring the 2013 New England Journal of Medicine article "Targeted Temperature Management at 33°C (91.4°F) Versus 36°C (96.8°F) After Cardiac Arrest" by Nielsen et al. This online journal club used Twitter conversations, a live videocast with the authors, and detailed discussions on the ALiEM Web site's comment section. This summary article details the community discussion, shared insights, and analytic data generated using this novel, multiplatform approach.