Resuscitation
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Artificial acrylic finger nails may alter pulse oximetry measurement.
Pulse oximetry is the most common technique to monitor oxygen saturation (SpO(2)) during intensive care therapy. However, intermittent co-oximetry is still the "gold standard" (SaO(2)). Besides acrylic nails, numerous other factors have been reported to interfere with pulse oximetry. Data of measurements with artificial finger nails are not sufficiently published. ⋯ Acrylic finger nails may impair the measurement of oxygen saturation depending on the pulse oximeter used and may cause significant inaccuracy. Hence, removal of artificial acrylic finger nails may be helpful to assure an accurate and precise measurement with pulse oximetry.
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Comparative Study
Personal protection equipment for biological hazards: does it affect tracheal intubation performance?
Personal protection equipment (PPE) is recommended for use during airway management of patients with highly contagious respiratory tract illness. While its use in chemical hazards and its effect on airway management has been assessed previously, there has been no research assessing whether this equipment affects the ability to perform tracheal intubation. It is the intention of this investigation to answer this question. ⋯ Although the use of PPE may not affect the length of time to intubate manikins, certain types of PPE may be uncomfortable to wear and noisy. Further research is needed to investigate whether this could be a problem in the clinical setting or in actual difficult intubations.
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Quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed by professionals is reported to be substandard even with automated corrective feedback. We hypothesised that lack of quality is not due to physical capabilities. ⋯ Ambulance personnel were physically capable of consistently compressing to the Guidelines depth even on the stiffest chest. These laboratory results cannot be directly compared to the clinical out-of-hospital ALS situation, but strongly indicate that the inadequate chest compressions found in our clinical study were not due to lack of physical capability. We speculate that this may at least partly be explained by their fear of causing patient injury and trust in their own opinion of what is the correct compression depth and force in preference to the feedback.
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The death of a close family member is one of life's greatest tragedies. When death is sudden and unexpected, there is an increased risk of posttraumatic reactions and complicated mourning. Care of the bereaved is still often overlooked in medical training and clinical practise. ⋯ Four factors were identified as being particularly important for the parents: evidence, reconstruction, explanation and sensitivity. There is a need of better routines to help the suddenly bereaved. A model of the major needs and a plan for the support needed are proposed.
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Paediatric patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) due to trauma pose difficult challenges in resuscitation. Trauma is a major cause of OHCA in children. The aim of this study was to determine which factors were related to predicting a sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in paediatric OHCA patients with trauma. ⋯ Several significant factors relating to sustained ROSC were determined in the OHCA paediatric patients with trauma; most importantly, we found that in-hospital CPR may have to be performed for at least 25min to enable a spontaneous circulation to return.