Resuscitation
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy of Defibrillator pads placement during ventricular arrhythmias, a before and after analysis.
European resuscitation guidelines describe several acceptable placements of defibrillator pads during resuscitation of cardiac arrest. However, no clinical trial has compared defibrillation efficacy between any of the different pad placements. Houston Fire Department emergency medical system (EMS) used anterior-posterior (AP) defibrillator pad placement before becoming a study site in the circulation improving resuscitation care trial (CIRC). During CIRC, Houston Fire EMS used sternal-apical (SA) pad placement. ⋯ No difference was observed in defibrillation efficacy between AP and SA pad placement in this study. A randomized clinical trial may be indicated.