Resuscitation
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Post-resuscitation care of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients often involves inter-hospital transfer (IHT). We aimed to determine the association between IHT and outcomes of OHCA. ⋯ IHT should be considered when treating OHCA patients in LVEDs.
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Experimental and observational research suggests hyperoxia following resuscitation from cardiac arrest is associated with neurological injury and worse clinical outcomes. This paper describes the rationale and design of the EXACT trial. EXACT aims to determine whether reducing oxygen in the acute phase of post-resuscitation care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) improves survival. ⋯ This study will determine if early reduction of oxygen leads to improved outcomes in OHCA. Such a finding may potentially change clinical practice with implications on future OHCA survival outcomes.
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Manual pulse checks (MP) are an unreliable skill even in the hands of healthcare providers (HCPs). In the context of cardiac arrest, this may translate into inappropriate chest compressions when a pulse is present, or conversely omitting chest compressions when one is absent. To date, no study has assessed the use of B-mode ultrasound (US) for the detection of a carotid pulse. The primary objective of this study was to assess the time required to detect a carotid pulse in live subjects using US compared to the traditional palpation method. ⋯ Carotid pulse detection in live subjects was not slower using US as compared to palpation, and demonstrated higher first attempt success rate and less variability in measurement times. A brief teaching session was sufficient to improve confidence of carotid pulse identification even in those with no previous US training. The preliminary results from this study provide the groundwork for larger studies to evaluate this pulse check method for patients in cardiac arrest.