Resuscitation
-
Avalanche resuscitation will save lives if focussed on victims that have the potential to survive. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine 4 critical prognostic factors for burial victims in cardiac arrest. ⋯ After 35 min of burial, or where the core temperature is less than 32 degrees C, a patent airway is associated with survival to hospital discharge. A serum potassium of less than 7 mmol/L may be a valuable indicator for survival when other indicators are unclear. These findings should modify the current avalanche resuscitation scheme.